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AN: 



OF THE 



<>RIG1N, POLICY, AND PRINCIPLES 



OF THE 



OPPOSITION TO THE ADMINISTRATION, 

AND AN EXPOSITION OF THE 

OFFICIAL CONDUCT OF THOMAS H. BENTON, 
One of the Senators from Missouri. 

. ' ■ • ' ' -- ^ * 

"To deliver thee from the way of the evil man, from the 
man that speaketli froward thing's ; whose ways are 
crooked, a.nd they iroward in their paths." 

Prov. I. 12-lt>. 

y 

Published originally in the Missouri Republican. 
. 182G. 



'CIS 



CONTENTS. 



W<5 

22 No. 1. 

~" The Opposition directed more against Mr. Clay than Mr. 
^j5^5js The leaders described — Joh\ Randolph apoliti- 
cal Cain ; his hand against every body — Causes of his 
discontent — J. C. Calhoun an agitator of restless ambi- 
tion ; his political tergiversations and manoeuvring — 
Thomas H. Ben'TON, once the friend of Clay and the ene- 
my of Jackson ; now unaccountably hostile to his former 
friend, and mysteriously attached to his declared enemy ; 
identified with the Opposition to the Administration, and 
seconds their hostility to Internal Improvements and Do- 
mestic Manufactures. 

No. II. 

The Opposition a coalition of antagonists, having no bond of 
union but common disappointment and a desire of revenge. 

Accuse Mr. (^lay of corruption — M'Dufkie manager of 

the charo"e — George Kremer his cat's-paw — Accusations 
published — Mr Clay demands an investigation— A commit- 
tee appointed-KREMER's pledge, recantation and confession 
— Charo-es renewed — Facts and principles urged in their 
support, considered — The accusers tried by their own stan- 
dard, and found wanting. — Extraordinary and sudden re- 
conciliations among the confederates — Reciprocal hatred 
between Benton and .Tackson — Character of their hostility 
— Benton's exertions in favor of Clay against Jackson — 
Facility with which he has abandon^^d his relation and 
i^V friend, and attached himself to his declared enemy. — At- 

tempts to dispose of the vote of Missouri — and failing, de- 
. • nounces Mr. Scott. — ^The Administration might subdue 

'^y^':;' hostility by bestowing offices on the leaders — Refusing to 



'■^. 



do so. incurs their lusting displeasure. 



IV 



No. III. 

The confederutci? shun Investigation of their charges — Their 
uvisupported assertions not to be relied on — The vote of 
Mr. Ci,ay, rig^ainst Gen. Jackson, justified on tlie testi- 
mony of his accusers — Accusations made by Randolph, 
Cobb and Bentov, against Gen. Jackson in 1819 — Repeat- 
ed acts of usurpation, tyranny and oppression — Habitual 
violations of the Constitution and Laws — As militarj' com- 
mander, assumes Legi'=iative and Executive powers — His 
disobedience of orders — Violation of the liberty of the press 
— Suspension of writ of Habeas Corpus — Massacre of pris- 
oners — His conduct investigated — Threatens members of 
Congi'ess — His letters to the President — Mistakes a citiztn 
for an alien, a Irailor for a spy. — Mr. Clay's opinions un- 
changed ; therefoie, he is denounced — His accusers re- 
markable for the instability of their friendships, their opin- 
ions and principles — Tht-ir present support of Gen. Jack- 
son, an instance of it — Their present support of the mili- 
tary chieftain is evidently designed chiefly to promote their 
own ill-directed ambition — The Declaration of Indepen- 
dence practically contemned by Jackson ; and sneered at 
by Randolph, with the approbation of his confederates. 



No. IV. 

Professions of extraordinary love of the people, justly sus- 
pected when made by aspirants — Examples from modern 
history — The Opposition assume captivating names — Pro- 
fess an ardent attachment for the people — Resignation of 
Gen. Jackson — 'his reason conjectured — He recommends an 
amendment to the Constitution, under the pretence of givhig 
the election to the people — Proposes to destroy the sover- 
eignty of the states — To unsettle the compromises on 
which the Constitution reposes — His adherents promptly 
co-operate — The dangerous tendency of the proposition 
exposed by Col. Benton in his speech of 1824 — Now re- 
ports in tavor of it — The speech and report compared 
— Speech greatly the best — His readiness to subvert the 
principles of the government — to sacrifice the interest of 
his own state to promote the views of his new friend. 

No. V. 

Claim of the Opposition to public confidence ill-founded-— ^■^Jt 

Their fault-finding disposition — Dissatisfied with the distri- '^ 

bution of powei's — Attempt to reduce the Executive pa- 



? 



V 



tronag^ and take it to themselves — To trausfor a part of 
the constitutional Executive power to members of the le- 
gislature by law — The absurdity of the scheme, and the 
interest of the contrivers, exposed — The proposition ad- 
mitted by the authors to be only a temporary expedient, 
that the powers attempted to be taken away are properly 
vested in the Executive, elected accoriJing to their plan — 
The result of the two modes of election contrasted — 
The probable effect on the exercise of patronae^e the 
same in both cases — The design of the proposed altera- 
tions exposed. 

No. yi. 

ubiic men bound to a strict conformity with their profess- 
ions — Lamentable inconsistency of the confederau-s — In- 
ternal Improvements approved, and the constitutional 
power in relation to them maintained, by the people — - 
Discussion likely to be renewed — Coalition pledged to op- 
pose them — Opposition dictated by Joh.v Randolph — A- 
g-reed to by Calhoun, Benton, aid the rest — Vote on the 
Illinois Canal and the Cumberland Road — Col. Benton's 
former declaration and recent conduct on this subject, con- 
trasted — His desertion of his constituents, and abortive at- 
tempt to keep up appearances — Same question considered 
in point of expediency — His declamation about the Na- 
tional debt and public expenditure — The fallacy of his 
claim to the character of an economist, exposed — The 
TarilTa favorite measure of the western people — Once sup- 
ported by Col. Benton — Opposition demanded by Mr. 
Randolph — Obedience of Col. Benton to his dictation — 
The g-ratification of his own ambition paramount to his 
duty. 

No. vir. 

Suspicious persons justly suspected — The accusations a- 
gainst the Administration repose on pretences of suspi- 
cion only, uusujjported by fact or argun)ent — The Panama 
Mission justifie<l — Declaration of the late President ap- 
proved by the people, and by the membeis of th<R Opposi- 
tion — The dilemma of the latter — TheeflVct of the election 
ef Mr. Adams on tlieir opinions on our forfign and domes- 
tic policy — Origin of the Congress of Panama — Its diplo- 
matic character established by the language of the trea- 
ties — Interest of this nation in its deliberations — Opinions 
once entertained by the Oppcsition on the policy of send- 



■^ 



VI 



ing ministers — Thuir change, with the reasons — Speech of 
Col. Benton — his insincerity and contradictions exposed 
-—His ridiculous proposition to send an official eves-drop- 
per to the assembly — The real cause of his opposition to 
be found in the omission of his name in the nomination — 
An interpolation in the speech exposed — His claim to the 
character of an economist fmther illustrated by his mode 
of charging- his own compensation — The vanity and falsity 
of his attack on Mr. Clay. 

No. VIII. 

An election according to the Constitution is an election by 
the people — Nothing else can by recognised as the public 
will — The President ought, therefore, to be respected as 
the President of the people — Expressions of Gen. Jackson— 
His change — Votes against Mr. Clay, to gratify his re- 
venge — Would have approved Mr. Clay if he had basely 
fawned upon him after the manner of others — A sum- 
mary of facts illustrating the character and principles of 
the confederates — Their professed object to promote Gen. 
Jackson to the Presidency— Their former opinions of him al- 
luded to — The evidence of his qualifications not presei-ved 
in his biography, or by tradition — The Creek treaty — A- 
bortive attempt to implicate the administration in the 
frauds meditated by the deputation— -Col. Benton recom- 
mends bribeiy — His ludicrous attempt at justification — 
Examples of'Talleyrand followed by Col. B. — Wishes to 
qualify himself to be Jackson's Secretary of State — The 
whole* party briefly described, with a warning to the peo- 
pie. 




TOB.0H LZaXZT. 

RUBLISHED ORIGINALLY IN THE MISSOURI REPUBLICANi 

BY CURTIUS. 



No. I. 

To observers of passing events, it must be ap- 
parent, that the opposition organized at Washing- 
ton last winter, under the auspices of Messrs. Ran- 
dolph and Calhoun, is more immediately directed 
against Mr. Clay than Mr. Adams. They would 
gladly, indeed, destroy the confidence of the peo- 
ple in both, and crush their future hopes, if they 
could ; but if they must fail in either, they would 
prefer the sacrifice of the Secretary. This is mani- 
fest, both from the materials which compose that 
most extraordinary combination, and the measures 
they have selected for their attack. 

At the accession of Mr. Jefferson to the Presiden- 
cy, Mr. Randolph was the pet of the nation. No 
man in the Union, at that time, possessed brighter 
prospects. Though young, he was considered as 
one of the leading champions of the democratic par- 
ty. In the great struggle which then agitated the 
nation, he performed a conspicuous part, and ac* 
A 



quired no little renown for bis active and efficient 
services, especinlly in the election of Mr. Jefferson ; 
but his career of usefulness was as short lived as it was 
brilliant. He wished to be reioarded (as th*- oppo- 
sition phrase it) by the appointment of Minister to 
England, and was disappointed. His mortified sm- 
bition immediately manifested itself in a violent and 
intemperate hostility to the then administration. 
Relying on his supposed personal popularity, he 
hoped to draw in the opposition a great portion of 
the rppublican party, and thereby force IVIr. J^-ffer- 
son into a gratification of his ambition. Failing in 
this, he turned his wrath against the whole party, 
and it has continued ever since, marked by no other 
change than increasing virulence. He fell as sud- 
denly as he had risen, and he ff^ll to rise no more. 
Disappointed hims» If, he acknowledges no claim, in 
any other, to that distinction once wijhin his reach, 
and which he still covets. Claiming to be the first 
man in the nation, he renounces all political con- 
nexion with parties or men, who do not acknow- 
ledffe, as a fundamental article of their faith, his in- 
fallibility, and his right to dictate to. and control 
th-m, in all cases whatsoever. Hitherto defeated 
intoovery effort to fiirm a party of his own, he has 
stood to the wall alone, waging a war of political 
extermination against all men enjoying the confi- 
dence of the nation, or rising to political distinction. 
From the first moment, therefore, that Mr. Clay 
appenred in public life, and ex! ibited to the world 
the powers of his mighty mind, he became the pe- 
culia*- mark of Mr. Randolph's hostility ; he was 
treated is a usurper of a place belonging exclusive- 
ly to M). Randoi[>h ; his political course was assail- 
ed as 'he m»'nns at once to destroy hin>, and restor- 
ing hi^; ass-i'lant to the confidence' ©f the nation. But, 
to his utter disconafiiure, Mr. Clay was supported by 



the whole democratic party, and covered himself 
with unfading glory, as the author and advocatu of 
those measures which have conducted this nation 
to her present enviable condition. F.iled in 
every attack, Mr. Randolph foigot the dignity of 
the station he held, and attempted, in the Capitol of 
the nation, to ridicule both Air. Clay and the peo- 
ple whose confidence he enjoyed, by sneering at liis 
origin and literary attainments; but again the illus- 
trious man who " inherited from his parents nothiug 
but ignorance and poverty," the architect of his liwn 
fortune and fame, obtained a signal triumph. He 
has not been, he never will be forgiven. He thai 
has injured another without provocation, is always 
the most persevering and unrelenting enemy. 

The restless overweening ambition of the Vice- 
President has manifested itself on many occasions. 
From the moment he came into Congress, his chief 
study appears to have been to elevate himself; and 
his talents, confessedly great, have been exerted 
accordingly. The highest place in the favor of 
the Democratic party was occupied by Mr. Clay ; 
and Mr. Calhoun's exalted opinion of himself 
would not permit him to accept any ot-her. To re- 
move Mr. Clay, or to divide the party by exciting 
discontents and uniting with the Federalists, was 
the only means of attaining his object. Mr. Ran- 
dolph's frequent failures, in attempting the first, ad- 
monished him to adopt the latter. Accordingly, in 
the winter oflSM-lf?, (while Mr. Clay was ab- 
sent in Europe,) he made his grand effort. For a 
while every thing seemed to accommodate itself to 
his wishes, a few of the Democratic members, disaf- 
fected by his means towards the Administration, 
enlisted under his st^indaid, and the Federalists, 
then a formidable minority, apparently co-operated. 
Su|f[>osing that he had thus secured a majority in 
the House of Representatives, he at once assumed 



X 



the port and tone of a political leader, high in the 
confidence of a powerfid party ; but, unhappily, the 
result too soon dissipated all his visionary hopes. 
On the final vote, the Federalists deserted him in a 
body, leaving only him and some halfdozen of his 
personal friends to condole with each other over 
the ruins of his fallen greatness. They had co- 
operated with him only for the purpose of defeating 
an important measure of the Administration, and 
having effected it, they left him prostrate, to deter- 
mine, at his leisure, who had been the dupe — he 
or they. 

Taught by this experiment, that he had nothing 
to hope from any attempt to divide the party, his 
only remaining expedient was to supplant Mr. Clay 
in the confidence of tl>e People. The failure of 
Mr. Randolph had taught him that this could 
not be done by open hostility to Mr. Clay, or 
his measures. He therefore affected to be the 
zealous friend of all those measures which had won 
for Mr. Clay the favor and confidence of the peo- 
ple. While he continued in Congress, he appear- 
ed, on all occasions, as their strenuous advocate. 
Subsequent events have shown that his object was 
iifJt so much' the public good, as his own advance- 
ment. He was a member of the caucus of I8l6, 
but whether he advocated Mr. Crawford or Mr. 
Monroe, in their memorable contest foi nomina- 
tion, is unkiiown to the writer. He was, however, 
unquestionably pledged to support fur the Presi- 
dency the one who should receive a majority in 
caucus, and, if he was friendly to Crawford, was 
bought over', if hostile, he was rewarded by the ap- 
pointment of Secretary of War.* In this oftke he 

* lliese expressions are used only as a practical illustra- 
tion of the charges made by Mr. Calhoun, and others, a- 
ffainst Mr. Adams and Mr, Clav. • 



is supposed to have earned the Presidency, and es- 
pecially die support of the Western and South-wes- 
tern states, by his encouragement of internal im- 
provements, and other measures, for which the na- 
tion is indebted to IVIr. Clay. 

Th;U Mr. Calhoun had no share in originating 
either, is well known, and that his support of them 
was a hollow pretence, is now ascertained, by the 
condition on which he has agreed to accept the co- 
oper;. tion of Mr. Randolph.* But the proposition 
on which Mr. Calhoun most plumed himself was 
the establishment of a chain of military posts on the 
Missouri, extending up to the Yellow Stone ; and 
yet, it is well known here, that the whole plan ori- 
ginated with the old Missouri Fur Company, and 
was suggested by one of the partners, an enterpris- 
ing trader, now no more.t 

The course pursued by Mr. Calhoun had so far 
succeeded in regaining the good opinion of the peo- 
ple, that his political somerset of 1814 was forgot- 
ten by many. It was supposed that he had turned 
from the error of his ways, and, if encouraged, 
might yet become a fearless and disinterested states- 
man. The people of the West, always generously 
disposed to foster young; men of genius, and espe- 
cially those who, like Mr. Calhoun, profess to have 
renounced their evil pro|>ensities, ace- rded to him 
warm-hearted expressions of approbation, intended 
as in<'itements to perseverance in well doing. His 
— — * 

*Mr. Randolph publicly announced his determination, in 
the Senat'? chamber, to abandon C'al.iouii, and liis faction, 
if they did not abandon internal iraproveroents, tariff, &.c. 
and Mr. Calhoun subsequently gave the casting vote against 
the Illinois Canal ! !! 

tTh late Manuel Lisa. The petition was wiitteo by a 
gentleman now resid'ng in St. Charles county, and ispr*- 
sunaed to be still on file in the War Department, 

A2 



abilities were acknowledged, and his industry com- 
mended, as promising pledges o{ future greatness and 
usefulness. This was too much for him. Inflated 
with his own importance, his vanity pointed out 
the Presidential chair as now completely within his 
reach. 

The premature zeal of partisans had presented 
to the nation the question, who should be the suc- 
cessor of Mr. Monroe ? Immediately after the com- 
mencement of his second term, Mr Adams and 
Mr. Crawford were designated as candidates ; but 
neither were supposed to be popular in Pennsyl- 
vania, the Western or South-western states. The 
expressions of kindness (intended as encourage- 
ment only) by the people of the West toward Mr. 
Calhoun, were eagerly converted by him into a 
pledge of support for any office he might seek, 
and, to the utter astonishment of the nation, he 
was declared to be a candidate for the Presidency. 
A press was established at Washington at an enor- 
mous expense. Many thousand papers were sent 
^r«^/s into every part of the Union, full of high- 
wrought encomiums on the Secretary of VVar^and 
calumnies against the Secretary of the Treasury, 
(Mr. Crawford,) whose popularity in the South, it 
was thought necessary to destroy. Every art was 
practised to gain Pennsylvania and the western 
States, without avail. The western people spontan- 
eously presented to the nation the claims of that dis- 
tinguished statesman, Mr. Clay, for the same office, 
and they could not be induced to abandon their 
earliest and best friend fo-r the gratification of a 
young aspirant, of equivocal politics and unsettled 
principles. This expression of preference f )r Mr. 
C. immediately brought upon him the vengeful ire 
of Mr. Calhoun, (hitherto concealed from motives 
.^f policy.) Presses were subsidized in every wes- 



tera state to traduce Mr. Clay, and the laborers 
were worlliy of the cause. 

Some o( them were even so indiscreet as to charge 
it upon Mr. Clav, as a crime, th.jt he voted tor the 
establishment of the U. S. Bank, when it was known 
to the whole nation that Mr. Calhoun was himself 
the most zealous advocate of the measure then in 
Congress. Mr. Calhoun, at length, convinced that 
he could not obtain the support {)f a siiigle Wes- 
tern elector, took himself tQ his old pla'i of produc- 
ing division, and succeeded. GeneralJ icksou was 
nominated by Tennessee, and divided the West. 
Unluckily, Pennsylvania, the strong hold of iMr. Cal- 
houn, immediately forsook him, and, seconding 
Tennessee, became the most clamorous f'.*r the 
el'.'ction of the General. Foiled in all his efforts, he 
began to make preparations for secut ing his retreat. 
He first proposed a coalition with Mr. Adams and 
his friends, and was rejected. After several other 
experiments, as a last resource, he united with J;ick- 
son, and by that means contrived to nfflict this na- 
tion as Vice-President. This office, h(<wever, does 
not fill the measure of his ambition, or equal his own 
estimate of his claims. He evidently still labors 
under the same delusion which first urged him to 
become a candidate. He still believes, that if Mr. 
Clay had not been a candidate, he would himself 
have obtained the votes of the West. He knows, 
that if Mr. Clay had not been nominated. General 
Jackson would not have been brought foward: and 
be supposes that he might then have obtained the 
votesof Pennsylvania, added to South Carolina, the 
West, and perhaps New Jersey, North Carolina and 
Maryland. At all events, he would have been one 
of the three highest ; and feared no competition, 
when intrigue and management would avail. Mr. 
Clay having been so far in favor with the people 



8 



as to be nominated for the Presidency, and his hav- 
ing been the obstacle to Mr. Calhoun's promotion, 
is an offence not to be forgiven. 

Such are the materials of which that motley com- 
bination, called the opposition, is composed. Men, 
disappointed of preferment — some, heretofore pro- 
fessedly the tViends of internal improvements, of man- 
ufaciures, and of a liberal policy in relation to the 
Spanish American Republics — and those who have 
heretofore openly assailed them all — have niatle a 
common cause against the Administration, the Pa- 
nsma Mission, Roads and Canals, and the protec- 
tion of Domestic Manufactures. 

But it may be said,th^t one, at least, of the most 
active and zealots me'ubers of the opposition, Col. 
Benton, is the friend of Mr. Clay. Let us exam- 
ine hovv that matter stands: That he cl.iims to be 
the rel jtion, and was once the friend of Mr. Clay, is 
conceded. In 1822, it is understood, he attended 
at St. Charles, while the legislature was in session, 
and urged his nomination to the Presidency. From 
that period, until 1824, nothing further was hfard 
from Col. Benton concerning ihe Presidential elec- 
tion, he being, during that time, at his residence in 
Virginia. In the latter year, he mad*" to his consti- 
tuents the celebrated "visit of inclination and du- 
ty," and during the summer and fall he displayed 
some zealjboih in electioneering for Mr. Clay against 
Gen. Jackson, and in reviling Mr. Barton, his col- 
league, who was then a candidate for re-election to 
the Senate. V deadly hostility is known to have 
existed between Gen. Jackson and Col. Benton. 
They were literally at daggers' points, and both 
were supposed to be implacable. Gen. Jacks')n and 
Mr. Clay were, to say the least, not friendly, ever 
since the latter, impelled by a sense of duty, spoke of 
the conduct of the former, in t^e Seminole war, as 



9 

he thought it deserved. A reconciliation, as sudden 
as it was unexpected, has been eflected between 
Col. Benton and the General, and which yet re- 
mains a mystery to those who are familiar with the 
character and disposition ot'both gentUmen. 

The Presidential election torminat^d in a plurali- 
ty of votes in favor of Gen. Jackson. The contest 
was evidently between him and iMr. Adams, in the 
House of Representatives ; and the partisans of the 
former shouted in anticipation of the triumph of 
their favorite. His adherents at Washington af- 
fected to entertain no doubt of his success. It was 
a time, indeed, to try the souls of men looking for- 
ward to Executive favor : it required a steady hand 
to adjust the balance of probabilities. Barton had 
long been in favor of Adams, and Col. Benton soon 
declared for Jackson. Then came the tug of war 
— the vote of oar Representatives being the subject 
of contest. It was given to Mr. Adams; and a friend- 
ship of nine years standing, between Col. Benton 
and Mr. Scott, was dissolved. Mr. Clay was soon 
after nominated to the office of Secretary of State. 
Col. Benton, indeed, voted for the ratification of his 
nomination ; but the opposition was not then or- 
ganized, nor was Randolph, its present supreme di- 
rector, then in the Senate. 

In the spring of 1825, Col. Benton revisited Mis- 
souri. The Calhoun and Jackson presses were 
then teeming with abuse of Mr. Clay; he was open- 
ly charged with corruption in obtaining his ap- 
pointment, and with having purchased atid sold 
the votes of the western States. These libels were 
republished here with additions ; and the relation 
and friend of JMr.Clay observed,throughout his visit, 
a mysterious silence. He who, one year before, 
had been eloquent in his praise, would silently have 
suffered obloquy to settle on his name. " It is al- 



10 

ojost as criminal to hear a worthy man traduced, 
without attempting justification, as to be the author of 
the calumny against him.'' If Col. Benton had 
been the " friend indeed" of Mr. Cla}', he would 
not have heard him vilely abused without warm and 
just indignaticMi — much less would he have consort- 
ed with those who are full of " envy, malice, and all 
unchriritableness," towards that distinguished citi- 
zen. Fortunately, Mr. Clay had a surer reliance 
in the confidence and affection of the people of 
Missouri than the kindred and friendship of her Sen- 
ator. Col. Benton returned to Washington, and be- 
came the personal friend and close ally ofM«ssrs. 
Randolph and Calhoun. His first public act is op- 
position to the favorite policy of Mr. Clay, and of 
the people of the West. His next, an accusation a- 
gainst Mr. Clay, of having palmed upon the Senate 
a false translation of an important public document.* 
Mr. Clay is the advocate of internal improvement, 
and Col. Benton voted against the bill for repairing the 
great Western avenue, the Cumberland road ; that 
highway upon which he once declared he had 
wrought since its commencement, and would con- 
tinue to work until it readied the western confines 
of this State, or, perhaps, the mouth ol Columbia. 
Mr. Clay is friendly to the protection of di>mesiic 
manufactures; and Col. Benton has announced his 
intention of voting for a reduction of the tariff, now 
but a short time in operation, and passed by the aid 
of his vote.t It cannot be disguised that Col. Ben- 
ton participates in the feelings of his new friend?, 
Calhoun and Randolph, and seconds all their plans. 
Mr. Randolph boasts of him as his ^^ friend indeed^ 
On a recent occasion, he was entrusted with his s - 

*SHe the proface to his speech on the Panama Mission. 
tSet his speech oa the bill to graduate the price of pub 
lie lands, p. 46 . 



11 

cret intentions, and yet permitted Mr. Clay to be 
placed in a disadvantng^ous situJiti.tn, without an 
effort.* Mr. Rfindolph sailed for Europe, leaving 
his speeches to be published under his care. In 
short, Mr. Randolph's will is l.iw to the whole op- 
positi n; he has said they should vote against inter- 
nal improvements, &;c. nnd it was done. 

Although this opposition originated in hostility 
to pariicular men, yet, as they have s^-lt-cted im- 
portant measures agninst whi«h they unite, it is now 
no longer a question between Mr. Adams or Mr. Clay, 
and any body els^- — but a quHstion of principle — 
shall our policy in relation to S >uth America, our 
manufactures, and our system of internal improve- 
ments, be ahand(med or maintained? Shall the 
Cumberland Road be suffer^-d to go to niin, or re- 
paired and extended ? In some future number I 
shall discuss these questions. In my next, I shall 
attempt to show, that the 1-aders of the opposition 
are obnoxious, according to their own principles, to 
the charge of corruption, which they now make a- 
gainst the President and Secretary of State. 

CURTIUS. 

*See the account of the Lite diu>l. 



12 



No. II. 

There seems to be a prevailing disposition in the 
human family to impute all their failures to any 
other cause rather than to their own deficiences. 
Hence, we find a general propensity to attribute 
unfairness to successful competitors. Each candi- 
date considers his own claims as paramount to all 
others, and his defeat as a misfortune, if not an in- 
jury. The disappointed are united by what they 
deem their common calamity, and, while they dis- 
agree in every thing else, combine in a common 
cause against their more fortunate competitor. If 
they cannot wholly deprive him of the prize he 
has won, they will, at least, disturb him in its en- 
joyment. This disposition shows itself in the 
pastimes of boyhood, in the graver pursuits of riper 
years, and no where more conspicuously than in 
contests for political preferment. Most of us have 
witnessed, and many of us, in our youth, have j;.in- 
ed, the profitless contest of boys for a seat behind 
a passing carriage. We have seen the little ur- 
chins putting forth all their energies, each endea- 
voring to outstrip all the rf st in the race ; but, no 
soon<^r is the contest determined, and the victor in 
possession <»f his priae, that all the rest make a 
common < ffort to deprive him of the reward of his 
toils, by uniting in the wnll-known cry of " cut be- 
hind!" The s;^me spirit, increased to a bitterness 
that curdles the <' mtlk of human kindness." too of- 
ten marks the progress and result of politic^il con- 
tests — of which the late Presidential election furn- 
ishes a lamentable instnnre. Men of disappointed 
ambition, full of resentment for defeated hopes, 
and an unholy desire of revenge, have combined 






witii the unrelenting personal enemies of ilipir suc- 
cessful rivals, and openly accuse some of the purest 
patriots and brightest ornaments of the nation with 



•o 

" corruption " 



The Charge originated with Mr. Calhoun, who 
diiectf^d his hoptiful protege, McDuffie, to make a 
public assualt, or cause it to be done. The latter, 
having then a lively recollection of the fleeting char- 
acter of his own valor,' knew that it would not be 
relied on, if, peradventure, he should have occasion 
for it, in maintaining the attitude it would become 
necessary to assume, wisely bethought him of the 
expedient of ihe monkey, who covetted certain 
chesnuts, which had been placed in the fire to be 
roasted, and not wishiitg to burn his own fingers, 
cunningly made use of the paw of a cat that lay 
dozing on the hearth. Accordingly, Mr. McDuffie 
placed in the hands of the miserable George Kre- 
mer, for publication, a charge of corruption against 
Mr. Clay. This Kreraer, was perhaps the only 
creature then in Congress that had not wit enough 
to keep out of the fire. He was, therefore, easily 
persuaded to thurst his person between that of his 
instigator and danger, and thus far, he proves to be 
a better defence than 'lutestring." The charge was 
published, Mr. Clay publicly denied it, and denoun- 
ced the author ; Kremer avowed himself as such, 
but, unluckily, no body believed him — the tolera- 
ble decent English in which the accusation was 
made, was considersd a sufficient refutation of his 
claims, and the public, by comaion consent, desig- 
nated the real authors, Mr. Clay being then Spea- 
ker of the House of Representatives, promptly de- 
manded an investigation. Kremer not having re- 
ceived any instructions for the government of his 
conduct, in this unforeseen situation, and relying 
B 



14 

upon (he resources of his principals, declared thai 
he would make the charges good ; and a commit- 
tee of investigation was elected by common con- 
sent — the facts on which the accusers relied were 
alleged to have transpired at Washington, and then 
of recent occurrence. The witnesses, if any ex- 
isted, might have been produced before the commit- 
tee, at any moment. The charges, if true, might 
have been established then, if ever ; and a full in- 
vestigation was expected by the nation. Kremer 
promised, from time to time, to develope the 
particulars of the alleged corruption, and to main- 
tain them by testimony. At length, however, he 
filed a formal plea to the jurisdiction of the com- 
mittee, and refused to proceed. No doubt was en- 
tertained at that time, nor is there yet, that Calhoun 
and McDuffie were the managers of the whole, and 
(directed Kremer in every thing but his pledge to 
support of his charges ; and this being out of their 
power, it was never their intention to attempt. All 
impartial men at once acquitted Mr. Clay, and 
treated the charge and the fabricators as unworthy 
serious consideration. Even poor Kremer disco- 
vered that his new friends had taken advantage of 
his headlong zeal for General Jackson, to impose on 
his unsuspecting stupidity, and make him the dupe 
of their designs. He declared that he did not be- 
lieve one word of the charges which he had become 
instrumental in presenting to the nation. 

Nothing more was heard from or openly attempt- 
ed by Mr. Calhoun and his party, in relation to the 
accusations against Mr. Clay and Mr. Adams, (for 
both are included,) until after the union with Ran- 
dolph, Van Buren, Benton, and others, in that mot- 
ley combination, 'vhich, for want of some political 
principle to give it a name, is denominated the 



15 

" Opposition." The charge has now been renew- 
ed, and is reiterated by every member of the eoali- 
tion, each ambitious of employing the greatest 
variety of the most opprobious epithets ; each vying 
with the other " who shall sink his stone deepest 
into the head" of that political Goliah, the Admin* 
istration. The facts upon which the Opposition 
rely in support of their charge of corruption, are, 
that Mr. Clay and Mr. Adams were not friendly 
previous to the election ; that Mr. Clay voted for 
Mr. Adams, who afterwards appointed him Secre- 
tary of State — and upon these facts, this nation is 
called upon to convict two of her most distinguish- 
ed citizens of corruption. 

They would have us believe their principles to 
be, that no two distinguished men, who have ever 
differed, can become reconciled, without a corrupt 
motive ; that, when a President appoints to office a 
person who voted for him, it must be understood 
to be a reward for his vole ; and if he appoints a 
person who voted against him, it is the price of 
apostacy, and in both cases, corruption in each par- 
ty. I shall waive, for the present, the considera- 
tion of thp fact, th:it Mr. Clay and Mr. Jackson 
were irreconcilt^ably hostile to each other ; that 
tlie former could never have voted for the latter 
without abandonijig the principles which he had 
fearlessly avowed and maintained, in the face of the 
nation. Suffice it to say, that he would have ren- 
dered hinjself at least as obnoxious to the charge of 
corruption, if he hnd voted lor Mr. Jackson, as he 
did in voting for Mr. Adams. My present object 
is to bring the leading members of the Opposition 
CO the test of their own standard, and examine them 
by the principles they have assumed, and shall re- 
quire only the aid of an additional proposition, 
which will, duubtless, be conceded, namely — thut 



Tl 



10 



Ijo wiio oiieiSj or is willing to be con upted, js ju5* 
as unfit to be trusted, as if he had actually received 
file reward of corruption. 

If then no two distinguished men^ having once 
difi'eredj can become reconciled without corrupt 
motive, I may ask upon what principles have 
Messrs. Calhoun and Randolph become reconciled 
to each other? These gentlemen, before the late 
election, were thorough-going personal and politi- 
cal enemies. No two men in the nation exhibited 
more rancorous hostility toward each other : they 
have become restored to each other's favor, without 
any other apparent cause than the election of Mr. 
Adams to the Presidency, and the appointment ot 
Mr. Clay, whom they both hate, if possible, still 
more than they hated each other. By what magic 
power has the Vice President secured to himself the 
personal friendship and support of Van Buren 
and others, who heretofore pretended to be the 
warm friends of William H. Crawford ? All of us 
remember the foul calumnies which Mr. Calhoun 
and his adherents fabricated and published agiiinst 
this excellent man and upright statesman, whom, by 
way of repoach, they called " the Radical Chief." 
Nor have we forgotten the accusations made against 
his friends in Congress, among whom Mr. Van Bu- 
ren and others, now of the Opposition, were re- 
presented to the nation as base conspirators against 
the most estimable rights and dearest interests of the 
people. Yet these men, thus reviled and denoun- 
ced, have not only, forgiven their own injuries, but 
have enlisted under the banner of their accuser, and 
made him with a common cause in attempting to de- 
stroy the reputation of others. To what cause shall 
we attribute the sudden attachment of Col. Benton 
for Gen. Jackson, to whom he had been personally 
hostile for years ? Between these c^entlemen th( 



17 

war had been carried on with a degree of determin- 
ed hostility on both sides, that forbid even the hope 
of reconciiiation. Both implacable in their resent- 
ments, their feud was deadly. The friends of 
each arrayed themselves against those of the other, 
with ihe steadfast implacability of hostile clans, and 
nothing, it is believed, prevented the loss of lives, 
but the removal of one of the chiefs, (Col. B.) from 
Tennessee. Hostilities, however, did not altoge- 
ther cease between the chiefs, with their opportu- 
nities of met'ting. On the part »f Col. Benton, at 
least, there was no abatement. He never wavered, 
throughout the investigation and public discussion 
of the conduct of the General in the Seminole war, 
and continued to denounce him for that conduct, 
among other things, until after Ihe electors were 
chosen, and the result of the Presidential election, 
so far as it depended on them, was known — when 
suddenly the hostile chiefs became reconciled, their 
wounds healed, and their mutual injuries forgotten, 
or at least forgiven. 

The Presidential election, so far as it depended 
on this State, was contested only between Mr. Clay 
and Gen. Jackson; and Col. Beuton devoted his 
time and talents to the support of the former, man- 
ifesting, on all occasions, his preference for Mr, 
Clay, and his objections to Gen. Jackson, in lan- 
guage and conduct by no means equivocal. He pre- 
pared an address to the people of this state, in which 
Mr. Clay was represented as qualified, above all 
others, for the Presidency, by his eminent talents, 
his undoubted patriotism, and incorruptible integri- 
ty. To this address he put his own sign manual, 
and by his indefatigable industry procured the sig- 
natures of many of the citizens of this state — by his 
Drocurement it was published, and distributed in all 
B2 






18 

parts of the state. His personal excrt'u ns were de- 
voted to the same cause. He was heard in all parts 
of the state, lauding Mr. Clay, and denouncing 
Gen. Jackson — the first as pre-eminently qualified^ 
the latter as wholly unfit for the t)fiice he sought. 
The election of the former was urged as necessary 
to the prosperity of the people, while the elevation 
of the latter was deprecated, as dangerous to their 
liberties. Even after the election in this state, and 
before the general result was known, Col. Benton 
exhibited his anxiety to acquit himself of all the 
blame, and " clear his skirts" of the blood which 
was to deluge the land, if Gen. Jackson should be 
President, and at the same time, to pbt in his claim 
to a share of the honors, if he was defeated, by 
boasting of the exertions which he had made a- 
gainst that "dougerous man," declaring that he 
had rode eight hundred miles for the purpose of 
preventing his success in Missouri.* But, in a few 
short months, his opinions of Gen Jackson's quali- 
fications and claims to the Presidency underwent a 
total revolution ; and an attempt was even made to 
dispose of the vote of this State in his favor. 

Whatever difficulty we might have in ascertain- 
ing the motives, which led to this extraordinary 
event, by the ordinary means of judging of human 
actions, there can be none if we apply the princi- 
ples and mode of reasoning adopted by the Opposi- 
tion. Colonel Benton was supposed to have the 
control of the vote of Missouri ; instead, therefore, 
of making overtures to Mr, Scott, it was thought 
most expedient to gain the favor of Col. Benton. 
The latter, proud of position which he supposed 

*One of the Ohio papers compliments Col. Benton for 
having made thi^ declaration, while on his vyay to Wash- 
"ogt 'ii ill Nov. 1824, beingafew weeks, only, before he di- 

cted^Mr. Scott to vcie for Gen. Jackson ! !.! 



'6 






19 



himself to occupy, naturally enough concluded, 
that the election of President was in his own hands, 
and having no very flattering hope of pjeferment 
from Mr. Adams, who might not so easily be per- 
suaded ^'of his qualifications as Gen. Jackson, and 
influenced, perhaps, by other considerations, which 
have not been developed, he declared for the Gen- 
eral ; and the vote of Missouri was considered as 
disposed of accordingly — but Mr. Scott either took 
ofleuce at not being consulted personally, or'was 
opposed in principle, to this disposition of his vote; 
and the nine years training of his friend proved 
unavailing; at the very moment his exertions were 
most important, he took the bit in his teeth, and 
boltt d. 

Upon the principles laid down by the Opposition, 
I have already shown, that Mr. Randolph offered 
to be corrupted^ by seeking a mission to England, 
as a reward for his services in ihe election of Mr. 
Jeff«M-son; that Mr. Calhoun was corrupted, by the 
appointment of Secretary of War. To these in- 
statjces o^i\iQ purity of the principles of the Oppo- 
sition, I may add, that Mr. Yhw Buren whs more 
than willing to have accepted the appointment late- 
ly conferred on Mr. Gallatin, and it is well known 
thai Col. B* nton has been soliciting a foreign mis- 
sion ever since he has been in ronjjress, and those 
whc know him cannot be persuaded that hf would 
have refused such an appointment even from ihe 
present Administration ; indeed, it has been insinu- 
ated, that all his wrath would have been spared, if 
Mr. Adams had not unluckily overlooked, or forgot- 
ten, his claims, and inserted the name of John Ser- 
geant instead of his, in the nomination of the mission 
to Panama. — In short, it is easy to perceive, that, if 
^he Administration were as corrupt as it is represent- 




20 

ed, they might purchase the silence, an«i even th? 
support, of the most clamorous of the Opposition. 
We are, therefore, forced lo conclude, that the al- 
leged corruption does not exist, or that the Opposi- 
tion is not worth the purchase. 

In making the application of their own principles 
to themselves, I wish, by no means, to be under- 
stt»od, that I believe the members of the Opposition 
as corrupt, or corruptible, as their own mode of rea- 
soning, from particular facts, would prove them to 
Ibe. I believe many of them worthy the high sta- 
tions they o' cupy. They, however, cannot com- 
plain, if the impure motives which they have imput- 
ed to the members of the Administration, by infer- 
ence from particular facts, should be fixed on them- 
selves, by a like inft-rence from simliar facts. We 
have no means of penetratiug the bosoms of men, 
and developing the motives of human action. Man, 
in tht^ general, erects in his own mind a standard 
by which he judges the motives of others, and as- 
signs to his fellow-man the motives for particular 
acts, which he supposes could alone inlJuence him 
to do the same thing, in a similar situation. The 
Opposition, we presume, have only the odinary 
means ascertaining motives, by outward actions ; 
hence, when we find them arguing the existence of 
corruption from the existence of particular acts, 
they cannot expect to escape imputation, when they 
are found doing the same things. But my ob- 
ject was only to bring the gentlemen to the test of 
their own principles and mode of reasoning, and 
there I will leave them for the present. 

CURTIUS. 



21 



No. III. 



When political men, who have been remarkable 
lor their reciprocal hatred of each other, surrender 
their judgements to the inflaence of malevolence, 
envy and ill nature, (the oftspring of defeated hope,) 
abandon their former principles, their poliiical and 
private friends, and nnite in a common cause a-- 
gainst them all, the public have a right to demand, 
and certainly expect, an explanation. When such 
men indulge in denunciations of the distinguished 
men who have been universally esteemed as an hon- 
or to the nation, and acuse them ot the highest 
crimes which public servants can commit, the peo- 
ple before whom they are arraigned owe it to 
themselves as well »is to the accused, to demand 
some evidence of the truth of the accusations. But 
it would seem, that the men w'u) have ventured to 
abuse the public ear, by imputing corruption to the 
President and Secretary of State, shrink from the 
duly which devolves on them, as accusers, and shun 
the investigation which has been assiduously sought 
by the accused, and their friends; yet they continue 
to brave the well merited indignation of the public, 
by reiterating their charges, on the unsupported 
and very questionable authority of their own as- 
sertions. 

Under these circumstances, it would be sufficient 
to oppose the well-earned re[jutation of the Presi- 
dent and Secretary, for sterling patriotism and in- 
flexible inteority, to the assertions of men whose 
practices have been continually in opposition to 
their principles, of which they have hollow pro- 
fessions, and who have so involved themselves in 
all the mazes of contradiction as to have forfeited 
every claim to public conlidence,aud lost every hope 



2i n 

of regaining it Hithout destroying the pi^lilical re- 
putation of those who have been steadfast in their 
principles, and consistent in their politics. The 
unsupported allegations of ambitious men whose 
sole object is their own aggrandizement, and whose 
only hope of attaining that end depends on an a- 
bandonment, by the pleople, of those measures which 
nave advanced this nation to her present prosperi- 
ty, rind the destruction of their author and advocate, 
who has maintained them with a fearless indepen- 
dence that challenges the admiration even ot his 
enemies — deserves the reprobation, rather than 
the support of the people. Waiving, however, all 
advantages which this view of the subject would 
give the accused, the inquiry may safely be pros- 
ecuted, to the utter discomfiture and disgrace of 
the accusers, upon their own testiraoney. If their 
opinions of their idol, expressed in by-gone days, 
are entitled to any w^<iight, a vote for Mr. Adams, 
in preference to Gen. Jackson, will be found to be 
so far from furnishing the slightest presumption of 
impurity of motive, that it could not have been 
given otherwise, without a total abandonment of 
every principle upon which the preservation of 
the Union, and the well being of the republic, de~ 
pend. 

, When the conduct of Gen. Jackson, in the Sem- 
inole War, was under investigation in Congres, 
Randolph and Cobb, two of his new converted ad- 
herents, upon their oaths as members of the H 'Use 
of Representatives, openly accused him of a total 
disregard of ihe constitution and laws, and a ty- 
rannical abuse of power. Upon the united testi- 
mony of these gentlemen, and other members uf 
Congress, supported by Col. Benton, withliis En- 
quirer, the Richmond Enquirer, and Noah's Na- 
tioHal Advocate— ail now uf the Opposition, aad 






the most violent of thp enemies of the President 
and Scerelary of Stale — it was alleged that Gen. 
Jackson had kept an army on foot, and peremptori- 
ly refused to disband it, in op»»n defiance of the or- 
ders of the President of the United States, as cora- 
' mander-in-chi'^f, in direct violation of his oath, and 
his duty as a subordinate officer; that while comman- 
ding at New-Orleans, he violated the liberty of the 
press, denouncing and threatening to visit the hea- 
viest military punishment upon the editor of a 
,5.^ newspaper, for publishing, after the treaty of peace 
was signed, and the enemy had abandoned his 
attempt on New-Orleans, an article extracted from 
another paper, intimating the prospect of a speedy 
peace; that he actually imprisoned the author of 
an article commenting on this extraordinary proce- 
dure, and not only refused obedience to a writ of 
habeas corpus, issued, according to the constitution 
and laws of land, to inquire into the cause of im- 
prisonment, but, in the spirit of military despotism, 
directed his vengeance, supported by an armed 
force, against the judge who issued the writ ; that 
he prevented the legislature of Louisiana from free- 
ly exercising their constitutional functions, by the 
employment of military force ; that while in the 
State of Georgia, in command of a part of the na- 
tional troops, he assumed authority to command 
the whole body of the militia of that State, in ex- 
clusion of the Governor, their constitutional com- 
mander-in-chief, to whom he offered the grossest in- 
sults : that, after he had himself declared the Sem- 
inole War at an end, under pretence of pursuing a 
few stragglers, he invaded the territories of Spain, 
a neutral nation, invested and ultimately captured 
her fortresses, and made the troops of the garrisons 
prisoners of war ; that he arrested two individuals, 
subjects ff a neutral power, whom he accused of 



24 



11 ■ 



having coraniiJted the same oflfence against the m 
tion, which De Kalb, Lafayette and others, commit- 
ed as;ainst Great Britain, that of aiding her enemy 
in war ; that lie arraigned them before a military 
court, upt»n charges unknown to martial law, and 
by his influence procured their conviction, upon 
testimony wholly illegal ; that after they were sen- 
tenced by the court the one to suffer death, the other 
to be publicly whipped, he r'^versed the sentence 
of the latter, and caused the one to be hanged, the 
other to be shot to death, declaring them to be 
<• outliws and pirates;" and th^t he put to death 
some of his Indian prisoners of war, without even 
the formality of a trial. 

Such are' the accusations, among others, made 
against Gen. Jackson, seven years ago, by his new 
friends. If true, he'not only deserved all the epi- 
thets which they then copiously bestowed upon him, 
bu' the punishment which they meditated. That 
he escaped the latter, is, perhaps, to be attributed 
to the clemency of some, and the fears of other 
members of Congress, who had become alarmed 
for the safety of their ears.* 

Whether the charges were true or false, however, 
it is not my purpose now to inquire. It is sufncient 
that they were believed, and supported by a great 
portion of those who now compose the Opposition 
to "the Adminisiraiion, and by the ablest men and 
must distinguished statesmen then in Congress — 
amono- whom, were the late Mr. Lowndes, of South 
Cor .iTna, and iVlr. Clay. The opinion of the lat- 

*The General and suite were at Washington during the 
debate, and memb<Ms of Congress we.e threatened with the 
loss of their ears, for daring to maintain the truth of the ac- 
cusations. \ m sseiiger was evea despatched to Richmond, 
Va. •' to drag out," as the phrase is, the author of certain 
essays in the Enquirer. 






ter, it seems, lias continued unchanged — and ^' this 
is the very head and front of his offending/' If 
he had chopped round, as did the political weather- 
cocks who are now the most intol^^rant of Gen. 
Jackson's adherents, he would doubtless have been 
taken into favor as they have been, and would 
have continued, in their estimation, a wise, incor- 
ruptible, independent, and fesrless statesman, of^3:erf 
principles and consistent practice. 

The History of Gen. Jackson's Life, published by 
his consent, furnishes no evidence of his qualifi- 
cation for the office of Chief Magistrate, nor, in- 
deed, for any civil office — the whole b<»ok, with the 
exception of a few lines, being occupied in d<'tail- 
ing and eulogizing his militHry exploits ; nor has 
tradition preserved any account of him as a private 
citizen, or civil officer, from which any opinion fa- 
vorable to his pretensions can be drawn. On the 
contrary, we have recently had conclusive demon- 
'Jtration of his entire ignorance, or total disregard, 
of the constitution and lavs of the land, and the 
nature of our civil ir.s'itnti ms, and a manifestaiion 
of the arbitrary and despcttir disposition which he 
is disposed to it^.dulge, whenever he bus the physi- 
cal power. In a letter to the late President, he de- 
clares that if he had coinmrinded in the military 
district within which the Hartford Convention sat, 
he w< uld liave br. nght the members before a C-urt 
Martial and executed them, under the second sec- 
tion of the articles of war ! ! ! which provides, 
" That in time of war ^ all persons not citizens of, 
or owing allegiance tOy the Urnted Sfofes, who 
shall he found lurking as spies, in or about the 
fortifications or pncampments of the armies of the 
United States, or any of them, shall suffer death, 
according to the law and usage of nations, by sen- 
fence of a General Court MarfialJ^ Novv, the 
C 



26 

members of the " Hartford Convention'- were ail 
" citizens of, and owing allegiance to, the United 
States'' — they sat in conclave, and were charged 
with, and, perhaps, were guilty of, meditating trea- 
son against the United States ; an offence defined 
by the constitution, and punishable only upon in- 
dictment of a grand jury, and conviction by a petit 
jury, on the testimony of two witnesses, afser a 
full and fair trial, in a court of law. They were 
certainly not aliens " lurking as s/>ie5 in or about 
fortifications or encampments," and, with all due 
deference to Gen. Jackson and his abettors, under 
our system of laws, the act which he said he would 
have committed, would have been an offence of no 
less grade than murder. It seems he has yet to learn, 
that, under our form of government, even a traitor 
is not to be punished at the discretion of a military 
commander. 

One of the reasons stated by Mr. Clay for not 
voting in favor of Gen. Jackson, was, that he con- 
sidered him a " military chieftain," which seems 
to have given particular offence to his partisans. 
Yet they cannot diguise that his claims to the Presi- 
dency are maintained exclusively upon his military 
services. They ask, whether those services are to 
disqualify him ? And I answer, certainly not — but 
his military talents and services alone are not suf- 
ficient to qualify him for the chief magistracy of this 
republic. He is no more a second Washington, 
as his friends pretend, because like him he has been 
a victorious general, than he is a second Jefferson, 
because his name begins with J. Luckily, how- 
ever, Mr. Clay will find a precedent, in the objec- 
tions volunteered by General Jackson against a 
>'* military chieftain" of the Revolution, the late 
Isaac Shelby, of Kentucky, when the President was 
ibout to confer on him the appointment of Sec- 



27 

retary of War. By the same authority, (GeUo 
Jackson,) the objection made to Mr. Adams, that 
he was once a Federalist, vanishes ; we have it un- 
der his sign manual, as the volunteer adviser of the 
late President, that party distinctions are all a 
farce.* 

The very men who now denounce Mr. Clay for 
not having changed his opinion of Gen. Jackson's 
princi[)!es and pretensions, professed to entertain 
the same opinions, expressed in 1819, confirmed by 
the subsequent acts and avowals of Gen Jackson ; 
nor was ihe smallest indication given of a change 
until it was ascertained that the election would de- 
volve on the House of Representatives, and the 
prospect of the GeneraFs success brightened; when 
suddenly, the settled opinions of years were aban- 
doned, and the man who they had, upon the most 
deliberate investigation, pronounced to be a military 
tyrant, regardless of all law, as if by a miracle, be- 
came pre-eminently qualified for the office of Chief 
Magistrate in a government of laivs. Some of the 
gentlemen whose judgements were thus wonder- 
fully illuminated, pretend that they were sincere in 
their former opinions, but that on becoming per- 
sonally acquainted with Gen. Jacki^on, they be- 
came satisfied of their error ; but the most of them 
cannot cUim the betjefit of this pretext, miserable 
as it is — among ihese is Col. Benton. He, at least, 
cannot pretend previous ignorance of the char- 
acter and disposition of Gen. Jackson, or that he 
has been l*^d into denunciations of him by mistake. 
There are circumstances fresh in the recollection of 
many of the people of this State, (if he has forgotten 

*The letters here alkidpci to were piiblislied in the winter 
of 1823 — 4, ill conspqueuce of some misundersiunding be- 
tween Mr. Lowrie and Mr. Monroe, 



28 

liiem,) exhibited in the pubhcations made by these 
geutlemeij against each other, which shouhJ have 
forbidden reconcihation forever.* Yit these friends 
have become warm fiiends and close allies. Col. 
Benti/n, at leiist, is now as thoroughgoing in sup- 
port of his new friend, as he was lately violent a- 
gainst him. As if fearful he would fall short of 
Gen. Jackson's demands, he has renounced his 
friendship for Mr. Clay, and now accuses him of 
practising a fraud upon the Senate, by purposely 
furnishing them a false translation ofa pubhc docu- 
ment. He has deserted his kinsman, whose obe- 
dient servant he lately was, and confederates with 
his enemies in destroying his well-earned reputa- 
tion, for no other apparent reason than that he would 
not follow the example of changing long established 
opinions, and become a parasite and flatterer of 
the Opposition favorite. 

With such facts before us, it would seem to me 
to be wholly unnecessary to urge the danger of en- 
listing in the cause, encouraging the ilhdirected am- 
bition, and following the fortunes of men of such 
deplorable instability in their friendships, their 
opinions, and their principles. Surely no confi- 
dence can be placed in the allegations of politi- 
cians who, at one time, upon their oaths,, accuse a 
public officer of high crimes, and at another, with- 
out atonement, or even explanation, turn and wor- 
ship him as an idol. From the specimens we have 
had of the fluctuating opinions of the vindictive ac- 
cusers of the President and Secretary, we have rea- 
son to anticipate, that ere long they will renounce 



*One of the publications of Gen. Jack?on, during- the 
xnemorabie controversy with Col. B. is '^aid lo be still ex- 
tant, in ttie posses>-ion of a gentleman of N' w Mndrid coun- 
ty, in this statr, and contain'* an allegation i^f facts, as well 
as of opinions, not very creditable to his new friend 



29 



their pretended opinions, abandon their groundless 
accusations, and, as likely as not, become the sup- 
porters ol'the men they now hate. They are not, 
even now, consistent with themselves : while they 
profess to reverence the constitution, they coun- 
tenance and support the ambitious projects of a 
man, who, according to their own opinions, has re- 
peatedly shown his contempt or ignorance of its 
provisions. Claiming to be the special champions 
of state tights, they propose to reward, with the 
highest honors of the Republic, the man who, as 
commander of a part of the national army, pre- 
vented the legislature of one State from frefly ex- 
ercising its constitutional functions, and daringly in- 
sulted the Chief Magistrate of another sovereign 
State, and usurped a portion of his constitutional 
powers. 

Professing to be the exclusive friends of the peo- 
ple, and the special guardians of their liberties, 
they endeavor to advance to the Chief Magistracy 
of this nation, one who stands accused by themselves 
of " obstructing the administration of justice" — 
'^ affecting to render the military independent of, 
and superior to, the civil power'' — of '* suspending 
the writ of Habeas Corpus" — of denying the '' tDe- 
nefits of trial by jury" to persons arrested for 
" pretendf^d offences," and subjecting them to a 
•' mock trial," by a military court, and of many 
other acts of oppression, similar in character, and 
equally grievous with those alleged against the late 
king of England, in our Declaration of Indepen- 
dence. Indeed, the Opposition seem to have but 
one rule of political action, and that forms the very 
definition of despotism, namely, that "the end jus- 
tifies the means." Even that sacred instrument, 
which stands as a proud monument of the wisdom 
and firmness of its authors, advocates and suppor- 
C2 



30 

~^ors, conssecrated by the blood of patriots, revered ' 
by the friends of civil liberty of every nation, has 
not escaped the unhallowed assaults of the disaffect- 
ed : before the assembled Senate of the nation, the 
Declaration of Independence has been pronounced 
by the mouth of their supreme director, Mr. Ran- 
dolph, to be a " Ridiculous Fanfaronade,'' that 
is, a tumour of fictitious dignity. It is true, that 
Mr. R. is the only member of the coalition who has 
had the hardihood or indiscretion openly to avow 
their true principles; but it is equally certain that 
at the coming forth, of the above classical epithet, 
he was supported by the approving smiles of all his 
ronff^derates in the Senate, and especially of his 
^^ friend indeed,^^* who, it is said, always contrives 
to be near the " Senator from Virginia," when he 
makes his "senatc-distressing-harangues," and with 
^' an aspect of wondrous wisdom," a greedy ear, 
and delighied countenance, devours the " farra- 
gos" of the " wonderful man." 
^ CURTIUS. 

* Col. Benton. The intimacy of (Lis gentleman with 
Mr. Randolph, is not the least extraordinary of the events 
jjrowiug out of the late election. To us, at a distance, it ap- 
pears altogether mysterious. Those, however, who claim 
to understand the matter, insinuate that it was produced by 
their respective wants — the one wanted adulation, and re- 
ceives it — the other wanted a legacy, and expects it. Let 
him beware — " the mnst txtiavagaot love is nearest to tl^e 
strongest hatretl." He has himself recently verified the 
truth.of this remark, and its converse. 



31 



No. IV. 

History teaches us, that the leaders of parties 
and factions, in all governments, in tlie general, 
commence their career of ambition by professing 
an ardent love for the people, and a devotion to civil 
liberty. They stimulate the prejudices, and assi- 
duous^ly court 'the favor of the people, with a view- 
to their own aggrandizement; and, if successful, al- 
most invariably become unrelenting oppri^ssors. 
In a word, they commence demagogues, and end ty- 
rants. In our own times this truth has been exem- 
plified by Napoleon, in Europe, and in the briUiant, 
but short-lived career of Iturbide, on this continent. 
Both were "nnlitary chitftains" of great renown. 
Professing to be the devoted friends of the Peo- 
ple, the champions of civil liberty, and the defen- 
ders of the rights ofraian, they succeeded in delud- 
ing their too confiding country men, until (hey reach- 
ed the goal of their ambition — power, when, for the 
first time, they unmasked, and a betrayed people 
beheldtheir treacherous leaders crowned Euiperors, 
and armed with the sceptre of absolute autirority, 
supported by the forces which a mistaken confi- 
dence had confided to their control. These ex- 
amples, with others familiar to those w!»o are at 
all conversant with history, ancient or modern, 
ought, and it is hoped will, prove instructive, as 
they are solemn warnings to the people of this re- 
public. A new faction (a party, if they please) 
has been organized for the avowed purpose of in- 
vesting a mere " military chieftain'' with the Chief 
Executive authority of the nation ; one whose lusl 
of arbitrary power has betrayed itself in every pub- 
lic act of his life — a man who has treated the con- 
stitution as an " old parchment," unworthy his 



32 



perusal and beneath his rt^spect. Y^et, to subserve 
his ambition, ht^ and his adherents profess an af- 
fection for the people, and a reveienct- for the con- 
stitution, equally wonderful and sudden. He as- 
sumes the captivating appellation of the " people's 
candidate'' — they, with equnl propriety, call them- 
selves " people's men," and " friends of State 
rights." Foriiunately, their headlong impetuosity 
so far outstrips their discretion, as to expose their 
designs too palpably to escape the observation of 
those who are not blinded by their zeal, or hoodwink- 
ed by interest. Their impatience under disap- 
pointment, their desire of preferment, and reckh^ss- 
ness o( the means, admonish us how little their ac- 
tions are governed by lnveof the people, or res- 
pect for the constitution. 

No sooner was the late Presidential election de- 
termined, than General Jackson resigned his seat 
in the Senate, (as he had before resinned every ci- 
vil office conferred on him,) without hiving made 
a solitary exhibition of the talents which had been 
imputed to him by his adherenfs, and hitherto un- 
fortunately concealed from the rest of the world. 
As he accepted a seat in the Senate pendii;g the 
election for President, and resigned as soon as the 
contest was over, we have a right to infer that it 
was accepted, not with a view to the public good, 
but from the influence which was hoped from his 
personal presence at Washington, and was acco'd- 
ingly resigoed as soon as it was known that he 
could n>t overawe the Repr^'sentatives of the peo- 
ple. Surely if his friends really believed him poss- 
essed iA' the abilities to entitle him to the office of 
Chief Executive Magistrate, they owed it to him, 
to themst Ives, and to the nation, to have used their 
exertions to have retained his services in a station 
eminently calculated at once to promote the com- 



S3 

mon weal, and to manifest his pretensions to pub- 
lic confidence. Or, will they admit the huniilinting 
tact, that his retirement from an office to which he 
was by no means tqual, was dictated by prudence, 
or was suggested by the mortified ambition of a ca- 
pricious man, goad*^d by disappointmt^nt. 

If Gen, Jackson really believes in the imputed 
corruption of the present Administration, as he and 
his adherents pretend, it wjis neither the part of a 
statesman and patriot, to abandon ihe important 
station which he declared was not to be sought or 
declined by any man; nor was it consistent with his 
professed love of the people, to desert the post 
which had been assigned him, to guard them against 
all unconstitutional encroachments of power. No — 
it cannot be disguised, that the man who was suf- 
ficiently honored in being nominated for the Presi- 
dency by a single state, has resigned an office much 
above his just expectations, to avenge in some sort 
the affront which his overweening ambition has 
received in not being placed at the head of the na- 
tion. He will be President or nothing. In the very 
act of resigning his seat in the Senate, he announ- 
ces, that he does not decline, but continut s to seek 
the office of President; and, by way of appealing 
from the intelligence to the generosity of the nation, 
makes profession of ardent love for the people, 
and recommends them (o alter lUfli constitution, 
under the provisit ns of which his ambition has 
been bpffled. He states as a reason f r his retire- 
ment, that his proposed alteration (by previous ar- 
rangement, no doubt) would be bronyht before the 
Senate, and delicacy forbid his taking part in their 
deliberations on the subject; which is nothing short 
of an admission, that his only \Vvpe of suc<ess de- 
pends on the alteration of iho constitution, and 
that he is, therefore, directly interested in the ques- 
tion. 



34 

The proposition which comes thus recommended 
by the authority and necessities of Gen. Jackson, is 
— 1st. To discontinue the use of electors, the even- 
tual vote by stales, and the umpirage of the House 
of Representatives. 2d. To adopt an uniform mode 
of electing by districts, and to commit the election 
to the direct vote of the people. The first branch 
of thf proposition evidently designs " to give the 
election, unconditionally and absolutely, to the pow- 
erful states," and vi^as justly denounced by Col. 
Benton in his speech of 1824,* " because it goes 
to the subversion of the government under which 
we live," aid " would unsettle one of the com- 
promises on which ihe constitution reposes," The 
second contemplates to deprive the states, as such, 
of the power of appointing electors, and of uniting 
or dividing their electoral colleges, according to 
their sovereign will. Both branches, indeed, pro- 
pose to circumscribe the power of the states in the 
Presidential election, and, taken together, would de- 
stroy their very existence, so far as the Executive 
Department of the national government is concern- 
ed. There is, therefore, every thing in the propo- 
sition to render it hateful to the real " friends of 
state rights." Yet no sooner did Gen. Jackson an- 
nounce, that the adoption of this principle-subvert- 
ing, state-consolidnting amendment, might possibly 
aid his promotion, than a c.»mmittee ot the Senate, 
with Col. Benton at their head, all the soi-disant 
" friends of state rigiits" rallied to his support. 



*Partof this speech was published in the Missouri Repub* 
lican, of t^e 13tli July last, and as I shall frequently quote 
from it in thss number, I refei the reader to that paper, or 
to*the entire sp'-ech, in pamphlet form, pul>lished and dis- 
tributed l)y thf i^uthor in 1824. I consirl'M- it a triumphan; 
vindication of the rights if th? stares, which neither he, nnr 
any ofthe band, can sufficiently refute. 



35 

Indeed the talent of enforcing discipline among:, and 
implicit obedience from, his followers, which distin- 
guishes G^^n. Jackson, has in no instance been 
more conspicnously displayed than in this : at his 
command, th? whole of his adherents (including the 
awkward squad under McDnffie and Kremer,) 
wheeled about, with the prompiitude and precision 
of veteran troops, and countermarched the whole 
line of their political course, treading under foot ihe 
principles they professed, and destroying all the 
political land-marks hitherto held sacred. 

Some of the sincere friends of state rights have 
entertained fears that the states, as sovereigns, have 
conceded too much, in the Federal Constitution, to 
the representative principle, which they honestly 
fear will tend to consolidation. Their struggle has, 
therefore, constantly bef^n, to prevent the appre- 
hended evil, by preserving to the states, unimpaired 
and inviolate, all the p<»wers reserved to them. 
They have unif)rmly exerted themselves to pre- 
vent the accumulation of power in ihe G neral Go- 
vernment, or the diminution in that o{ the states, 
either by construction or additional express provi- 
sions in the constitution — certainly none have 
hitheito desired a change by which the power of 
the states should be impaired. This consolidating 
project owes it its ©rigin, exclusively, to the miscall- 
ed '*^ people's men." They would deprive the states 
of the power of appointing electors to vote in the 
first instance, and to destroy their present equality, 
as sovereign states, on a second trial — so that the 
small states "may stand for nothing," and "the 
election of President be given, absolutely and un- 
conditionally, to the powe:ful states." Yet, they 
are bold enough to call themselves exclusively the 
friends of state rights. 



m 

To rend'^r the proposed innovation more accept- 
able, and at tiie same time to support the pretence 
to the appellation of '^ peopK's men," claimed by 
the authors, it is proposed to discontinue tlie use of 
elf^'ctors, and commit the election to the direct vote 
of the people. This, it will be seen, possesses 
little or no substance, and certainly is too weak to 
carry its companions. The election is now virtu- 
ally in I ho people; they choose electors, who are 
previously pledged to vote for a particular candi- 
date, and never tail to redeem th'^r pledges ; they 
are but the organs thr"ugb which the expressed 
voice of the people is cmiveyed to the seat of Go- 
vernment. All the benefits, therefore, proposed 
by the alteration, are now substantially enjoyed ; 
a mere diffeience in form will certainly not autho- 
rize an intermeddling with the constitutinn. There 
is also a difficulty growing out of the plan propos- 
ed, in CHse of no choice on the first trial. Col. 
Benton (or rather Gen. Jackson) proposes to refer 
the (lection back to the people, limiting their 
elioice, however, to the two highest of those voted 
fur; but, waiving all other objections, (and there 
are many to which this expedient is obnoxious,) 
it " stands condemned" as another attempt to a- 
bridge the freedom of choice, by requiring voters to 
give their sv)ffrages, not for the man in their opinion 
most worthy and best qualified, but for one of two 
[laving the highest number of votes — to use the lan- 
guage of Col. Benlon, against a similar propositi'-n, 
in 1824, " the range of selection was narrowed one 
lialf by tlie amendtnent of 1803, ann nowit is pro- 
posed to rake away the right altogether." 

Col. Benton in his speech of 1824, already re- 
ferred to, says, " there are positive advantages in 
referring the election to the House of Representa- 
tives ; ii is a safer depository of the elective privi- 



37 

lege than any other body of equal numbers, which 
exists at this time, or can be created under the con- 
stitution." " If it is said, that there may be some 
bad materials in the House, I will esk for the body 
of equal numbers in which there is so little? And I 
will maintain that the House of Representatives has 
ever been,nG w is, and while the Republic lives,it must 
continue to be, for talent, for integrity, and for ele- 
vation of character, the first body of men, hi equal 
numbers, which either exists in our own or any 
other country in the world." " To my mind, there- 
fore, there is no place more safe for depositing 
the right of the states to decide the Presidential elec- 
tion, than th^ House is." — Now, mark the change: 
In 1825, after his reconciliation with G»-n. Jack- 
son, and the Chieftain had dictated the course to 
be adopted by his followers, the same distinguished 
gentleman holds the following language: " It be- 
comes a question which addresses itself to the mind 
and heart of every lover of his country, whether 
Congress (meaning the House of Representatives,) 
can be safehj trusted with the choice of Chief Ma- 
gistrate of this great and growing Republic." " The 
House," says, he, ^' stands condemned, because it 
is capable of being corrupted," and '' of beirjg tam- 
pered with" — liable to the influence of candidates 
— "is subjpci to violence, and capable of coali- 
tions. — " This is the language of Mr. Benton's cele- 
brated report, v/hich recommends that the umpir- 
age of the Hou>«e of Represeniatives be discontinu- 
ed. Now, although a comparison of the speech 
with the report, both in matters of fact and argument, 
would result greatly to the advantage of the former, 
(perhaps for the!" reason that it was produced by 
Iionest convictions,) yet, I would not absolutely in- 
sist, that the House is the sifest umpire which could 
possibly be created. " The great principle for 
D 



38 

which I contend, is, that after one trial bv the peo 
pie, the next shall be by states;" but, I submit, that 
it is highly objectionable to strip the House of Re- 
presentatives of the power until a less objectionable 
substitute is proposed. 

An alteration of the principle on which the elec- 
tion of President now reposes, in the manner pro- 
posed, although not literally unconstitutional, would 
violate a principle as high and Sis sacred as the 
Constitution itself. By depriving the small states 
of their power and equality in liie election of Piesi- 
dent, you take away one of the principal considera- 
tions which induced them to accede to the Union, 
and, by consequence, dissolve their obligation to ad- 
here to it. ^' Every body knows," says Col. Ben- 
ton, " that without compromises, the Constitution of 
'87 could not have been framed, and it is tair in- 
ference, that unless these compromises are preserv- 
ed inviolate, the Constitution must perish." Now, 
it was one of *' these compromises" which gave 
the election of President, in the first trial, to the peo- 
ple, upon the Federative and Representative prin- 
ciples combined, and upon a second trial, referred 
the election to the states as equal sovereigns. The 
preservation of this principle, if not necessary to 
the existence of the Union itself, is at least indis- 
pensable " to the safety and respectability of the 
small states," and '^ imposes a salutary restraint on 
the ambition and violence of the poweiful ones." 
If the federative principle, already confessedly the 
weakest, be not firmly maintained and supported, 
it will sink under the attacks of pretended friends ; 
the states, overpowered and destroyed, will dwindle 
to mere corporations, or the confederacy be dissol- 
ved. There will be no ho|)e of the durability of 
he Union, if the '' people's men" are indulged in 
their work of spoliation. 



39 

The dangerous tendency of the proposition which 
the predicament of General Jackson seems to render 
expedient, and therefore acceptable to his party, 
cannot be better illustrated than it has been by CoK 
Benton, in the speech from which I have quoted. He 
has demonstrated, that " it is necessary to the safe- 
ty and respectability of the small states that they 
should stand for something in the Presidential elec- 
tion" — " that if their rights, as now guarantied, are 
not preserved inviolate, the constitution must per- 
ish, and that the contingent right of voting by states 
is one of the main pillars which now supports the edi- 
iice of the constitution." Yet, he is willing to re- 
duce the contingent power of this state from one 
twenty-fourth, to one eighty-seventh of the electoral 
voice of the Union; to exchange one vote out of 
twenty-four for three out of two hundred and sixty- 
one ; to barter her equality with New York for one 
twelfth of her relative strength ; to sacrifice " the 
respectability and safety" of the small states, (in- 
cluding Missouri,) and make them stand for noth- 
ing in the Presidential election. In a word, the 
political Sampson of the West, blinded by zeal or 
interest, has grasped the fairest " pillar which now 
supports the edifice of the Constitution," and lends 
his mighty powers to the demolition of the temple, 
and " the subversion of the government under 
which we live/' that his new favorite may rise on 
its ruins. 

CURTIUS. 



No, V. 

If the people have just cause to distrust any of 
the public servants, it must be those who have de- 
veloped their evil propensities, by the treacherous 
desertion of their friends and principles, and the 
fawning baseness of attaching tiiemselves to their de- 
clared enemies — men who, after having jostled, re- 
viled, and criminated each other, in their struggles 
for preferment, unired their skill and cunning to 
create and foment confusion in the administration 
of the government. Yet the Opposition, (who are 
sufficiently designated by this description,) alter 
subduing, with wonderful forbearance, the smart- 
ings of the deep and still fresh wounds, v/hich they 
had received from each other in very recent politi- 
cal conflicts, and endeavoring to conceal the de- 
formities exposed by their battles, by decorating 
each other with the trappings of panegyric, set up 
an exclusive claim to public confidence ; and, mo- 
destly proclaiming themselves to be the very "quint- 
essence of integrity, wisdom, moderation, and firm- 
ness," undertake, radicrilly, to reform the govern- 
ment. According to the new and sublime system 
of politics which they have adopfed fur the occa- 
sion, the National Government has been blundei- 
ing in error ever since its organization under the 
Constitution, and a total change in the existing or- 
der of things is held essential to the preservation of 
the Republic. Considering, however, tiie very 
suspicious circumstances under which th' se unre- 
formed gentlemen present themselves as reformers, 
the people (whom thej have insulted by assuming 
to act in their name) had a right to expect some 
eviilence of their danger in continuing a state of 
things under which they have prospered cear forty 



41 

VParSj or at least a proposition for improvement 
commensurate with the lofty pretensions of their 
volunteer guardians. But, as if they expected ihn 
people to resi2;n the use of their eyes and ears, and, 
vv'iihout knowing why, resolve to believe every 
thing which might favor their ambition, they an- 
nounced a list of imaginary grievances, without at- 
tempting to support ihem otherwise than by a parade 
of declamation. With apparent earnestness they un- 
dertook the task of reform, but their labors, as 
mielit have been expected, proved to be " the par- 
turience of a mountain, and the never-failing deli^ 
very of a mouse.'' 

During the last session of Congress, the same 
comaiittee who reported the proposed amendments 
to the Constitution, which wert' considered in my 
last number, were instructed to inquire into the ex- 
pediency of reducing the patronage of the Execu- 
tive Governmetit of the United States. This com- 
mittee, with Col. Benton at their head, betook them- 
selves to exploring the Statutes, the " blue book,' 
■ind the records of tlie ditfereni Departments, in 
search o{' " food for pre-conceived opinion," and, 
after some weeks of unremitting exertions, they dis- 
covered causes of great alarm. First, in the duty 
required of the ISecretary of State, to cause the or- 
ders, laws, and resnlutions, passed by Congress, to 
be published in one, and, if necessary, in three of 
the newspapers printed in each State. Second, in 
the limitation of the duration of ofiice of the faitiiful 
collectors and disbursers of public revenue. Third^ 
in the mode of appointing deputy postmasters. 
Fourth, in the manner of appointing cadets. Fifth, 
in the present mode of appointing midshipmen. 
And sixth, in the terms of the commissions of the 
. olTicf^rs of the army a^d navy. These, in the opin- 
-'•on of the committic^ " tend to sully the purity ^i 
D2 






42 

our institutions," and are so pregnant with incinii- 
neut " danger to the liberties of the country," as 
to require the immediate interposition of the Na- 
tional Legislature. Accordittgly, when they tra- 
vailed, they brought forth a litter of six little bills, 
which were read, laid on the table, and sufferred to 
expire for want of nourishment. The rnpt)rt which 
accompanies them, (for any reasons it contains in 
their support,) might have been manufactured in 
Dousterswivel's newly invented steam loom for 
weaving novels.* It is composed almost entirely 
of new and not very happy combinations of the va- 
rious epithets which have been employed by the Op- 
position, in all their reports and speeches against 
the Chief Magistrate Neverthekss, the whol-, 
taken together, may be consideied as a fair speci- 
men of the wisdom, moderation, and disinterested- 
ness of the ^' people's men." 

It has been the fashion of the Coalition (includ- 
inff their printers,) to cry down the presses autho- 
rized to publisli the laws, as the hirelings of corrup- 
tion. The editors who were the most troublesome 
and noisy in their application for selection to print 
"by authority," are now the most clamorous and 
vehement in dtnunclations of ihoir successful com- 
oetiiors. liuieed, if the opposition are to be be- 
lieved, the editors and publishers of newspapers are 
all Swiss, ready to support any party, or any cause, 
for a very small reward ; and ihe presses, '^ ihe mov- 

* Accontinir to (he description of this machine, as given 
by the " Great Unknown," words and phrases, intended to 
be often i-peated, are to be " placed in a sort of frame 
woik,', and the operator changes their combination by a 
mechftnical process, similar to " that by whirh weavers of 
<lamaik alter their patterns," whereby any vaiiety of de- 
clamation may be produced, while the author, " tired of 
th<-" prcfiiless "labor ot pumpi'ighis" ^-xhausted" brains, 
may have an agreeable relaxation in the^&e of his fing«rs. ' 






43 

ing power of human action/' are convurted into S(j> 
man)' engines of corruption the momeat ihey are 
authorized to psint '^ by autliority." Yet, the "s)eo- 
ple's men" in the Senate, are anxious to increase 
the number of these corrupt machines, proviJui 
they have the selection of the -editors to bt^ corrupt- 
ed. They propose, that " the number of papers 
to be selected to publish the In tvs, <fec. shall not 
be less than three in each State, and may be equal 
to half the representation of each Stat*- in Con||iess; 
in each Territory, on»^, and in the District of Co- 
lumbia, three, the selecnon to be made by the Sena- 
tors and Representatives from each State, and the 
Delegates from Territories : the papers in the Dis- 
trict of Columbia by the Secretary of State, he giv- 
ing a preference to those having the greatest rnnn- 
ber of actual subscribers."* In other words, as 
th^y have exhausted I heir private resources in esta- 
blishing a calumniator-general at Washington, they 
wish to create branches in each of the States, at the 
jmhiic expense, for the innocent purpose, doubtlpss, 
of enlightening the people in the choice' of Pre.si- 
dent.t It will be remarked, however, that they do 

* Querp ". How is the number of actual subscribers to 
be asjeriained / It is believed that very few actually sub- 
!)Cril)e ii) their own proper hand-wi iting. The aames ,?on- 
erallv are put down by tlie editor hijnself If his list be the 
ciiterion, there are editois, whom we wot of, that hav*^ v.ry 
few actual subscribers, and yet wouhl profit by the arrange- 
ment, even though an affidavit should be required. 

t Members of Congress hKvr> now, virtually, a g-reat 
share of patronage, which is nominally in the President. 
Most of the subordinate officers, at least, are appointed up- 
on their recommendation, and the exertion of the influence 
of some of them in i)rocuring appeintracnts, havi^ not had 
a very happy wifluence in establishing their own disinterest- 
edness, or the purity of their lavorites. 

The appointment of late sub-agpnt to the lowas, and the 
late Receiver for the Western Tiand District, may be cited 
as instances, which should silence the Chairman of the Com- 
xnittee on the subject of abuse of patronage;. 



44 

not restrict theaist^lves to the selection of papers 
" having the greatest number of actual subscribers:'^ 
this wholt-sonie regulation is confined to the Secre- 
tary of State. The wisdom and disinterestedness 
of the contrivers of this scheme will be manifest, 
when it is observed, that the members of Congress 
in each State must necessarily be convened when- 
ever a prifiter of the huvs is to be selected, and it 
cannot be expt'cted that they W'il render such im- 
portfint 'service, as they give their advice to the 
peopU^ gratis. 

Tiie comtnitt^e, ^sfter t!ie fashion of a certain 
speech-compiling Senator, have made a pompous 
displav of long ("Xtrac.ts from books in the posses- 
r>ion of every member of the Senate^ commnnicat- 
ing infsrmarion, ignorance of w hich, in any member 
of Congress, would bo rulpable. One of tlu'se is a 
long list of revenm^ officers, and iheir emoluments, 
taken frop? a reorisster annurdlv published " by au- 
thoiitv," fir tiie information of the people, wiiich 
the commii,tee call the '' blue book,''' a nickname 
suggested to the l^nriied chairman by the color of 
the cover, but certainly unfit to be employed in a 
State paj»er, and unworthy the dignity and gravity 
of" the most enliLihtened deliberative body in the 
world.'' — Apfjarently astonished at their discovery, 
the committee exclnitn, " a formidable list indeed ! 
formidable in numbers, and still more from the vast 
amount of money in their hands.— r-The action of 
such a body of men, sup[)osing them to be animat- 
ed by one spirit, must be tremendous in an election: 
and that they will be so animated is a proposition too 
plain to need demonstration." They inf-rm the 
Senate, that this branch of the Executive patronage 
will increase, " not in arithmetical ratio, but in geo- 
metrical progression ; an increase alroost beyond 
the power of the mind [of a Senator] to calcaJ-ate 



45 



or comprehend." After this, it might have beea 
supposed, that they would recommend a reduction 
of the " formidable list," or, at least, a curtaiiuipnt 
of the emoiluments as the " natural ren^edy." No 
such thing. They only propos»^, " that the Presi- 
dent shall lay before Congress, once in every four 
years, the accounts of the collectors and disbursers 
of the revenue, and to vacate the offices of such as 
have failed to account according to law — that, upon 
nominations toffiH vacancies, occasioned by remove- 
als, the President shall state the reason of such re- 
movals — and to repeal the act of 15ih May, 1820, 
limiting the term of office of certain officers;" that 
is, they recommend no change in the existing law, 
except to continue in office, during good behavior, 
district attorneys, collectors of the customs, naval 
officers, surveyors of customs, navy agents, regis- 
ters and receivers of the land offices, and certain 
officers of the general staff of the army, whose terms 
of service are now limited to four years. 

Another bill provides " that no person shall re- 
ceive the appointment of Postmaster, where the 
emolutinents exceed a certain amount per annum, 
except upon the nomination of the President, by 
and with the advice and consent of the Senate." 
The Executive patronage is thus to be reduced, by 
taking the appointment of d-^puty post-masrers 
(except the smnll fry) from the Postmrister-General, 
and vesting the power in the President and Senate 
— the same President, " whos*^ spirit," they say, 
" will animate the actions" of officers app'iinted 
by him, " in the elections of State and Federal offi- 
cers," and the very Senate which they report un- 
fit to be trusted, because, they say, that until " the 
axe is laid to the root of the tree,'' [the constitu- 
tion] and the President elected by the People, "pa- 
tronage will penetrate this body, subdue its capa- 



46 

city of resistance, chain it to the car of power, and 
enable the President to rule as easily, and much 
more securely, withjthan without the nominal check 
of the Senate." 

The " tremendous power" (in elections) of the 
cadets and midshipmen (youths between fourteen 
and twenty-one years of age,) is another of the 
evils which " sully the purity of our institutions, 
and endanger the liberties of the conntry," and has, 
therefore, not escsped the vigilance of the " Peo- 
ple's" committee. On this subject, they propose a 
brace of bills, not to diminish, but to distribute the 
contaminating influence of Executive patronage 
among the several States, by apportioning the ap- 
pointment of cadets and midshipmen among them, 
according to the whole number of Senators and 
Representatives inCongress from each State — "the 
appointments to be so made, as that one cadet and 
one midshipman shall be taken from each electoral 
district, or one from each Congressional district, 
and two from the State at large, if not divided into 
electoral districts, and one from each territory." 
After this, who will doubt the wisdom of the 
"people's men ?" 

There are, to be sure, some slight inconvenien- 
ces, such as the possibility that some States will be 
unwilling, or unable, to furnish their quota : this 
may be remedied by a draft. Again : the number 
can never be increased, however urgent the npces- 
sitv, without a new census and apportionment of 
Representatives, and then, perhaps, it might be re- 
quired to make a new allotment, so as to have each 
district represented. Peradventure, the representa- 
tion of some of the States in Congress may be re- 
duced, which would require a corresponding re- 
duction of boys representing them in the navy and 
the military academy. But these inconYcnicncei 



are counterbalanced by the advantages, which are, 
tiiuttliere will be precisely as many boys in the ar- 
my as in the navy, and as many little d.iggers in each 
as there are tongues in Congress — (hus equalizing 
admirably the military, naval, and legislative de- 
partments. To complete the plan, it will only be ne- 
cessary " to commit the election" of the buys," to 
the direct vote of the people." 

The last of the committee's bills, provides, "that 
the officers of the army and navy shall hold their 
offices during good behavior, and that no officer 
shall heieafter be dismissed the service but by the 
sentence of a court martial, or upon an address to 
the President by both Houses of Congress." To 
justify this measure, it ought to have been shown, 
that the power of theTresident, of striking officers 
from the rolls, has been, or is likely t© be abused. 
It certainly has not been exercised by the present 
Executive, and never by his predecessors, except 
in flagrant cases, that of Gen. Hull, for example. 
Indeed the very power of arbitrarily di.srnissinr '".n 
officer has been justly denied by the St nate, e /en 
in the cSse of d reduction of the armv. If ihek 
proposed pla,n prevails, supernumerary officers could 
certainly not be disband^^d, otherwise than by a 
sentence of a court martial, or an address of both 
Houses of Congress. 

The cotnmittee inform the Senate, that the "na- 
tural remedy" for the evils of which 'h^y complain, 
would be, "to place the election >'f President in 
the hands of the people" — that, " considering the 
present m'ide of electing the President, as the prin- 
cipal source of all this evil, (namely, Executive pa- 
tronage,) they had commenced their labors by re- 
commending an amendment to the Constitution in 
that essential and vital particular." Despairing of 
success, however, they say, " not being able to lay 



48 

the axe to the root of the tree, (the conclusion,) 
they must go to pruning among t he hmbs and 
branches: not being able to jejorin the Constitu- 
tiou in the election of President, they must go to 
work upon his powers, and trim down these by sta- 
tutory enactments.'' The meaning of all which is, 
simply, that these six bills are but temporary expe- 
dients to ^' prune" the patronage of the present 
Chief Magistrate, and divide the trimmings among 
themselves, by way of staying their stomachs, until 
the happy period when the feast shall be ready, at 
which I hey expect to gratify their appetite for 
olfice, and revel in the rich honors which are to re- 
ward their disinterested labors ; that happy period, 
when " the axe shall be laid to the root" of the 
Constitution — ti»e compromises on which it reposes 
Uiisettled — the principles of the government sub- 
verted — and, as the natural consequence of anar- 
chy or consolidation, the military chieftain (miscal- 
led the people's candidate,") elevated to the Presi- 
dency. Tl). n they promis«- us to restore all the 
-' limbs and branches" nt' Executiue patronage 
which, in tlie n>eantime, shall have b»^en lopped off. 
Then the " pei»ple's men" will apprehend no dan- 
ger from " Executive patronage," although it may 
/be operating " on fifty rnlHiuns of revenu*^," and 
'« the civil and military officers of the Federal go- 
vernment shall be quadrupled," increasing " not in 
arithmetical ratio, but in geometrical progression." 
The gr* at evil, they say say, of " an election by the 
States," is, that it so corrupts {h^ successful candi- 
date that he pt^rverts the Executive patronage ex- 
clusively to the preferment of such as are either 
knaves at the time ©f their selection, or become 
such as soon as they are appointed, and devote 
themselves, and their offices, to the service of their 
patron. On the other hand, " an election by 



49 



the people" so purifies the object of their t'avor, 
that his patronage is confined to men of integrity, 
or, it' by chance he should appoint any who are 
otherwise, they are immediately made worthy, and 
well qualified, by his purifying influence, and apply 
themselves exclusively to the duties of their offices, 
carefully avoiding any jnterfeience in " State or 
Federal elections." As instances of the rectifying 
effects of " an election by the people," the same 
committee have assured us, that the members of State 
Legislatures, chosen by "the direct vote of the peo- 
ple," are generally traitors to their constituents ; 
that the members of the popular branch of Con- 
gress cannot safely be trusted ; that they are capa- 
ble of being tampered with, and were lately actual- 
ly corrupted. Truly the " Report," in the lan- 
guage of Lord Byron, 

— — " Is a fine sample, on the whole, 
Of Rhetoric, which the learn'd call rigmarole." 

After all, it may well be doubted, whether they 
ever intended seriously to urge the passage of any 
of these bills, and certainly they never calculated 
on, or perhapseven wished, their adoption. Sensi- 
ble of the convenience of enveloping themselves in 
;i mist, that they may " loom large," and appear to 
their admiring followers of more than ordinary size, 
they submitted their project that they might indulge 
in declamation, carefully avoiding the plain ground 
of reason and argument, on which they would ex- 
pose their diminutiveness. Surely they did not in- 
tend to throw dirt into the fountain out of which 
they have all been anxious to drink, and expect to 
slake their thirst for office, wh<en their idol shall 
have the distribution of the pure refreshing waters. 
In making their feint they were careful, however, to 
provide for themselves, if peradventure the people 
should believe them to be in earnest, and take them 
^t their word. 

E 



/ 



50 



But the intention of the Coalition ^' to lay the axe 
to the root of the tree," (meaning the Constitution,) 
wears a more serious aspect. The term " election 
by the people," is used in contradistinction to an 
election by the*' House of Representatives," and is 
artfully employed to delude the people, and cover 
the attack on the Federative principle of the gov- 
ernment, which they wish to overpower and destroy. 
The eventual right of the States to determine tlie 
election, has always been offensive to the friends 
of consolidation. They have now united with 
those who wish to promote a favorite to the Presi- 
dency, and who, reckless of the means, are unwilling 
to ^'subvert the government under which we live," as 
iheonly hopeof attaining their end. Thepretence of 
puni'y'mg (not 7'educing) the Executive patronajje of 
the government, is seized upon as 'heir justification. 
The complaint is, that a President elected by the 
States, will appoint his friends to oflfice, who in turn 
support him. But experience teaches us, that a Pre- 
sident elected by the people is not more inclined to 
favor his enemies or slight his friends. Jefferson, 
Madison, and Monroe, were all elected " by the 
people ;" the first dispensed his patronage on the 
avowed principle of preferring the friends of his 
administration, and excluding his enemies. His 
conduct was approved, and who will impench his 
integrity ? Mr. Madison folli>wed his example, 
and his administradon has been lauded by the whole 
nation, except Gen. Jackson, who. when it became 
convenient to flatter his successor, discovered that 
he was not competent to preside in timoofwar, but 
that Mr. Monroe was ! ! The executive patronage 
during the administration of Mr. Monroe, seems to 
have been specially exercised in favoring his friends, 
and particularly ih^spi who had favored his preten- 
sions in his competition with Mr. Madison, in 1812. 



51 

'I'hfy werejsought out and appointed to office, and 
some oflbemgave but poor specimens of integrity 
or talents, alth'^ugh their patron was elected bi/ the 
people. Yet nobody complained of the President -iS 
either corrupt or corruptible. Between the two 
modes of choosing a President, regarded merely as 
means of making the bpst selection, there has been 
HO opportunity of judging until the late election ; 
wherein the States preferred as President Mr. Adams 
to Gen. Jackson, the statesman to the soldier; tliepe<?- 
p/e preferred as Vice-President, Mr. Calhoun to INlr. 
Gallatin, or Mr. Sanford, or anv bodv else — a de- 
magogue rather than any one of a host of patriots 
and statesmen. The President refuses to prosti- 
tute the Executive patronage to purchase the sup- 
port of his enemies, and they " goto work upon his 
powers" and reputation, and propose to" trim these 
down," because he would not corrupt them. The 
Vice-President joins the Coalition, and prostitutes 
his office to advance their purposes, and to gratify 
his own unholy revenge. This political 

" lago doth give up 
The execution of his wit, hands, heart, 
To this great council's service ;" 
And thus became a conspicuous member in full 
communion among a band of neck-or-nothing poli- 
ticians, who assuiue the name of " people's men," 
that they may get the pt-ople's offices, with their 
appurtenances, the emoluments. 

CURTIUS. 



Correction. — In the first line of p. 48, for '• condusitn/^ 
read " conslitulion.^' 



52 



No. VI. 



Politicjans who jispire to the character of states- 
men, should undoubtedly possess political princi- 
ples, deep-rooteci hi their minds, and be unilormly 
consistent in th^ir practical application. Protes- 
sious are indeed seldom wanting, but unfortunately 
they are often unsupported by corresponding prac- 
tice. Sonie. wi»ln>m possessing any principle's of 
their cvvn, profess those which pr vail in the State 
in which th-^y happen, for tht- rime being, to re- 
side, and change their creed with every change of 
resitle-nce, or accommodate themselves, with won- 
derful facility, (o any teusporary exigency, and. for 
the occasion, repose their f «ith upon any principle 
which may, in their opinion, subserve the imme- 
diate interest of their constituents, or promote their 
O'vn popularity. Others commence their political 
career hy professing principles in perfect accord- 
ance with those .-f their con3titu>^nts, and afterwards, 
by their public acis, practically deny them ; and, 
at the same tinu*, visult the understaudisjgs of those 
whom they 7?«2'srepreseni, by manoeuvering to keep 
up the appearance of ci>nsistencv, with 4 full con- 
sciousness that their original professions were eith- 
er in direct oppositio'i to their real opinions, or 
that their principles (if they had any) have been 
changed, or prostituted, in consequence of bargains 
or associations, which they dare not avow. The 
former deserve contempt for their instability, or, 
perhaps, (in charity,) pity for their w eakness ; 
ivhile the latter meiit disgrace and punishment for 
tiieir treachery. On mere questions of expediency, 
involving no constitutional principle, public servants 
certainly may, without just cause of imputatioa* 



53 



change their opinions, if it be done upon honest 
conviciion of error. Indeed it may, and often 
does, on such questions, become their duty to vote 
against their own judgments, in obedience to the 
expressed will of their constituents ; but questions 
involving the construction of the constitution ad- 
mit of no such indulgence. Every man who as- 
pires to the honor of representing the people, 
ought, and is presumed to, possess established pwn- 
ciples on this subject ; and as, by the theory of our 
government, every representative is supposed, as 
he is obliged by duty, to reflect the opinions of 
his constituents, a candidate is bound frankly to 
avow his political creed. If he is chosen under 
such circumstances, his principles are impliedly 
sanctioned, and he stands pledged to e. strict con- 
formity in his public acts; nor will the obligation 
be discharged by a mere observance of the letter, 
and abandonment of the substance — by setting up 
fanciful distinctions where there is no difference ; 
neither is he at liberty to forsake or compromise his 
approved tenets, in any change of circumstances, 
or of rulers, much less can he surrender them to the 
dictation of others, without forfeiting every claim to 
consistency, or even political honesty, and subject- 
ing himself to the just reprobation of his constitu- 
ents. " Tried by these axioms," most of the con- 
federates, SOI disant " people's men," and especial- 
ly the gentlemen whose erratic political course 
more immediately concerns the people of this State, 
will " stand condemned," as undeserving public 
confidence or support. 

Repeated decisions, by overwhelming majorities 
in both Hous« s of Congress, approved by two suc- 
cessive Presidents,^ and sanctioned by nine-tenths 
of the people of the United States, seemed to have 
settled the question in relation to the contested pow- 
E2 



. •■-'/ 



54 



er of Congress on the subject of roads and canals, 
in favor of a constitutional competency to adupt a 
system of internal improvement, and the expedien- 
cy of exercising it. At least four of the candidates 
in the late Presidential election, (Adams, Clay, 
Jackson, and Calhoun,) favored the prevailing doc- 
trines. The election of the first to the Presidency, 
and the appointment of the second to the office of 
Secretary of State, (ahhough they continue true to 
. their principles,) have produced a coalition among 
the disappointed, which will renew the discussion, 
and perhaps ultimately endanger the success of the 
system of improvement, unless the people interpose 
their authority. Jackson and Calhoun, with their 
adherents, determined to organize an Opposition to 
the Administration, but, conscious of their own 
weakness in numbers and in talent, thought it expe- 
dient to obtain, at any pi ice, the co-operation of men 
J whose ppinciples were opposed to their own as well 
-as to those of the Administration. A coalition was 
accordingly formed upon terms dictated by John 
Randolph, namely : Tluit the Administration 
shvuld be opposed by the conft-derates in every 
thing, right or wrong, and General Jacks( n sup- 
ported for the Presid ncy at the next election — he 
and Calhnun, with thtii friends, renouncing, or at 
-least abandoning, nn practice, their tenets on the 
, subject of the tariff, internal improvements, &c. 
' "Mr. R. so.>n after manifested his fidelity, by an- 
. nouncing, publicly, an intention to support General 
7ackson ; but it seems that some of the contracting 
-parties, 4n their anxiety to keep up appearances, 
and the better to delude the people, began to 
"play fast and loose" with their- engagements; 
which he " of the fitful head" naturally enough 
mistook for duplicity, and promptly chastised them 
- into a lively sense of the oblig;jtion of their con- 
. tracts and threatened to abandon the whole of 
tiiiie/n, (Gen Jackson included) if they did not oban" 






don xheir support of domestic manufactures, roads, 
and c?inals.* 

On the bill to aid the State of Illinois in the cqp- 
struction of a canal to connect the waters of Lake 
Michigan with those of the Mississippi, Messrs. 
Kane and Benton were indulged in vofing for its 
passage, (the subject being too near home to be tri- 
lled with,) by which means a tie was produced, and 
the bill defeated by the casting vote of the Vice 
President, as it |iad been previously arranged it 
should b^. Afterwards, the whole coalition, in- 
cluding Col. Bent(»n, voted against, and defeated, 
the bill to repair the Cumberlavd road; by which 
it was proposed to put and keep in order th»t 
great avenue, then in a state of dilapidation, by 
collecting toils, and to prevent ( r punish t'uture in- 
juiiesby the impositici' of ad* qnate penalties. This 
road h.as ever been the special favorite of the West- 
ern St:ites, and they are equally desirous to extend 
and preserve ir. It will also be reu)enibered, that 
Col. B» nion himself, while Editor of the St. Louis 
Enquirer, and a candid.tte for the Senate, in antici- 
pation of the Slate Governnjent, boasted that he 
had wrought upon the great National highuay from 
its comn»encement,and pledged himself to continue 
iiis labor until it should reach the western confines 



* Mr. Randolph is perpetually reminding lii? new friends 
of their engagfrnents, and is provokingly careful lest his 
"friend indeed" shordd give him the slip, or, as General 
Jackson would say, "forfeit his allegiance." In his speech 
on the Jadiciaf system, Mr. R, says, ' But, while I vote 
with my friend from Missouri on this question, I wish to hold 
hii7i [to his contract understood] when we sbslt come to 
another question— whether it be the Dismal Swamp Canal 
bill, or the Potomac and Ohio Canal bill, or some other of 
these Gerrymandering^ of the Stat'^s into Districts, by ca- 
nals and roads." Col. Benton, it seems, was held, and will 
ly.ntinaeto h'sMeld, or forfeit his claim " to the use of any 
.tjjiug Mr. R. has, without the ceremony of asking leaj;e." 



of this State, or even the Pacific. It is said that he 
still professes the same priticiph's, and equal zeal ; 
that he still maintains the cunstilurumal competen- 
cy of Congress to construct roads, but denies their 
right to coUrct tolls to keep them in repair, which 
he contends can only be done by annual appropria- 
tions out of the Nitional Treasury. All power on 
the subject of internal improvements has been de- 
nied by the opponents of the system, because, they 
say, none has b-en expressly deb 'jated to Congress, 
and is, thorc^fore, reserved to the States exclusively; 
consequently, its exercise by the National Govern- 
ment is an invasion of state rights. CdI. B. insists 
that the contestt-d power is cleaily implied in iht»se 
expressly d»^l« g'lted; that the consi ruction of a 
road is not, but the erection of a t(jll-gate upon it 
is, an encroachment on state rights. He admits 
that the main power is maiittained by construction — 
why he stops ijalf way, and excludes the incident, 
requires explanation. With submission, it w..nl;l 
seem to be a sticking to the letter, and a surrender 
of the substance — an attempt to establish a distirc- 
tion without a dilT'irence, which betrays a total 
want of confidence in the principle insisted on, and 
gives manifrst advantage lo its adversaries. A pow- 
er to construct roads and canals, necessarily implies 
a power to repair and preserve them, and the 
choice of the means as a necessary incident — the 
greater includes the less, and the accessary follows 
the principal. 

The course pursued by Col. Benton in relation 
to this subject, considered as a question of expedi- 
ency, will be found to be strikingly at variance with 
}jis contemplated reform in the management of the 
National finances, and his pretended attachment to 
economy in the public expenditure. A real econo- 
sTJWst would suppose, that, after a road or canal is 
coastructed at the common expense of all, those 



.37 

who'enjoy its benefits should keep it in repair. For- 
eign cominerce pays, bytht^ n;iJi»e of U.iinHge duly, 
imposts, and customs, (which are no other than 
taxes or tolls,) not only for the creation and preser- 
vation of its fciciliiies, but defrays all the exp^-nses 
of gov^'riimeni, supports its credit, and is rapidly 
paying oft' the National debt. Suieiy it is not too 
much to require, that internal commerce should pay 
for the preservation of its facilities: at'ler they are 
provided at the Nation's expenoo. Even corres- 
pondence between the citizens is tpxed not only to 
pay for the means afforded, bu to eni»ble members 
of Congress to transmit cart-loads of paniphlets 
and electioneering speeches, to subserve their pri- 
vate purposes without private expanse. The Post 
Office establishment is made to support itself by 
taxing letters; why should n^t roads b-^ kept in re- 
pair by tolls? An attmpi has already been made 
by Col. Benton to produce exciieni* nt against the 
Administration, which, he says, *' in these ' sky 
light,' or rather, sky ri»ck; t times," " is circumna- 
vigating the globe, and vaulting against the Hea- 
vens, to find out objects of expenditure."* He even 
seizes on the amount of the National debt, as a to- 
pic of declamation and denunciation. Yet he con- 
tinually advocates measures to multiply demands on 
the Treasurv and diminish its resources : his plan 
of keeping the public roads in repair, is an exam- 

*' ♦ This " sky rocket" flight will be found ia a pamphlet, 
entitUd, " Speech of Mr. Bf^ntoii, of ^yl>.so^itl, delivered in 
the Senate of the United Slates (in serri-t session,) on the 
mission to Panama," (fiist edition, p. 52. and second edi- 
tion, p. 41-2,) and refers to the expense of the mission. lu 
a note, the or.<tor says, " this topic [and of coui se this ter- 
lible flourish,] was pretermit ted in the spoken speech, but it 
is deeaied necessary to a f.iir view of the missii»n, to insert 
it here, namely, in the l»ook circulated at public exx>€nse= 



58 

pie of tlie on«^, and his scheme of giving away the 
public lands, if the other. 

No greater amount of \vM\c money (an, with 
any propriety, he yppljrd to internal iniproVHKcnt, 
than will he aiffirient for '.he gradual advasicf ni^'ut 
of the syslciu. If' it is insisted, ihar ti>ere shall be 
additional appropriations f-T k^e-'ping th; m in re- 
pair, there is daiiger that we shall be forced to aban- 
don them altoyetht^r, or resort to internal taxation, 
(direct tax and excise,) to pay tfT the public debt. 
The roads and canals now in rontemplHtion as Na- 
tional works, will not only require Iriige sums of 
njiiney to construct them, but the expenses of their 
preservation will increase with the progress of the 
work, and the whole, when completed, will proba- 
bly ri^quire not less than a million of dollars, annu- 
ally, to keep them in rep dr. If those who use 
them for their own pleastire, or profit, were requir- 
ed, like those who enjoy the benefit of the Post 
Office establishment, to pay a small tax or toll, re- 
pairs might be made without aid from the National 
Treasury. Thus there might be saved (in a very 
shurt time) a sum equal to the expenses of the Pa- 
nama mission, now so much C(tmplained of, by Op- 
position oratois and editors; in a few years the an- 
nual saving would equal the whole expense of our 
foreign intercourse, including contingencies — and 
would, eventually, tqu il the expenses of the legis- 
lative, executive, judicial, and diplomatic depart- 
ments. Surelv it is better at once to resort to 
practicable means, and such as will certainly be 
adopted by the States, if the National government 
is compelled to abandon the system. When States, 
or corporatiotis, construct roads or canals, tolls are 
levied not merely to keep up repairs, but for the 
purposes of revenue — consequently, they would be 
double, perhaps fourfold, what it would be necessa- 
ry for the General Government to exact. 



59 

We are informed by Col. Benton, in his speech 
.on the bill to graduate the price of public lauds, 
that the National debt ^^ is increased instead of di- 
minished, for it was seventy-six mlHions at the end 
of the Revolution, and it is eighty millions now !" 
This statement, in the mere letter, is true; but, if 
taken in its spirit, and in connexion wiih the whole 
tenor of the discourse, it is evidently designed to 
impute to the Administration gross mismanagement 
of the public finances, and insinuate, that the public 
debt has been increased without »he intervention of 
any cause to justify it— an artifice certainly unwor- 
thy the statesnian, and unbecoming any man hav- 
ing no sinister dt^signs : but his object is to persuade 
the people of the existence of disorders in the Go- 
vernment, which cannot be corrected without the 
aid of his herculean powers, and'to effect his pur- 
pose nothing is left unessayed. Mo part of the pub- 
lic debt has been contracted by the present Ad- 
ministration ; on the c intrary. during the three first 
quarters lif the year 1825, upwards of eleven mil- 
lions of dollars were paid on account of ihe prin- 
cipal and interest. On ihe first day of October, 
1825, ihe only portion remaining unpaid of the Re- 
volutionary debt, was thirteen millions two hun- 
dred and ninety-six thuusmd two hundred and 
thirty 'one dollars and forty-five cents. The 
residue of the public debt, contracted subsequent 
16 the 1st of January, 1812, (being the war debt, 
and the loans mide to pay the Florida claims, un- 
der the Treaty with Spain,) which renmined un- 
paid on the 1st of O'tober, 1825, was sixty millions 
six hundred and eighty-nine thousand three hundred 
and six dollars and twenty-seven cents.* So that 

* See the last annual report of the Secretarj' of the Treas- 
'iry. In the statf ment extraott^d, I have omitted the sub- 
scription of seven millions in the United States' Bank, ag 
the govprnntent has an equivalent in an equal amount ol 
shares iu the institution 



60 

near sixty-three millions of the Revolutionary debt, 
the whole of the public debt contracted between 
the years 1793 and 1812, including the Louisiana 
stock, and about one-half of that contracted since 
1812, have been paid off, besidei the " one hun- 
dred and thirty-six millions of dollars paid in inter- 
est." 

That more has not been paid, is, perhaps, owing 
rather to the exertions of such politicians as Messrs. 
Calhoun and Benton, than any other cause. Both 
have contributed largely to lavish expenditures of 
public money; the one, by his contracts; the other 
by his voles and speeches, especially where favorites 
could be profited. The frrst, as Secretary at War, 
made the eel^'brated Rip-Rap contract, by which 
the United Slates lost many thousand dollars. The 
same economist contrived to allow iVjessrs. John- 
sons, of Kentucky, upwards of two hundred thou- 
sand dollars (equal to five hundred dollars, or up- 
wards, a man,) for the transportation of troops from 
Belle Font-nine to Council Bluffs, a distance of 
about five hundred mils-t The latter, as Senator^ 
advocates measures avowedly for the sole purpose 
of spending '' Government money" among the 
people. If we may judge from bis public acts, he 
holds, that the benefits of a measure are always in 
proportion to the amount of public money they will 
occasion to be circulated. He treats the Gentraf 
Government rs an alien enemy, and every appro- 
priation, especially if to be expended in the west, 
as lawful prize : hence the frequent invasions of 
the treasury, no matter how impracticable, or use- 



i Col. Benton denounced this transaction at the time — ■ 
but his displeasure is now forgotten or appeased, and the 
two economists are in close alliance, offensive, if not defen- 
sive. 



(51 



less, the ostensible object may be.* Yet tliese men 
declaim against the Administration, because the 
public debt is not paid, and endeavor for that cause 
to excite discontent among the people, and destroy 
their coufidence in the most worthy and exalted 
statesmen in the nation. 

The Tariff is another of the favorite measures 
of the western people. It was originally proposed 
and supported avowedly as a protection and en- 
couragement of domestic manufactures, and not as 
a revenue measure. It seems to have been thus 
understood by Col. Benton, and was advocated and 
supported by his vote in the Senate, on its true 
principles. It has now been but two years in ope- 
ration, and has already contributed much to the 
prosperity of commerce, agriculture, and manu- 
factures. It has benefitted commerce, by de- 
creasing imports and increasing exports, and 
is thus equalizing the balance of trade ; it ha» 
reanimated the drooping spirits, and stimulated 
the enterprise, of manufactures ; it has encour- 
aged agriculturists in the pleasing prospect of 
a home market for the productions of the soil. 
Don)estic manufactures have increased in quantity, 
and improved in quality, and will continue to in- 
crease and improve, as long as protection and en- 
couragement are afforded, " not in arithmetical 
ratio, but in geometrical progression,'* until an am- 
ple market will be furnished the farmer and planter 

* Mr. Randolph, after several times, in the same speech, 
reminding his friend from Missouri vf his wishes on the 
sul)ject of roads and canals, says, *' whenever any proposi- 
tion shall be got up to create expense here, there will always 
be some plausible reason urged for going into the expense, 
because somebody will always have to furnish the mate- 
rial." " This is the unkindest cut of all." Surely the 
" wonderful man" might have spared his " friend indeed" 
this cutting reproaach. 

F 



62 



ibc their produce — a prosperous coninierce estab- 
lished in the export of manufactures — and the na- 
tion become completely independent of foreign 
powers, in peace and in war. It will he rt^meiu- 
bered, that this truly " American system" was ori- 
ginally opposed by the enemies of domestic man- 
ufactures, on the ground that it was not a revenue 
measure, but was intended as legislative protection 
to domestic industry, which, it was insisted, was 
not within the constitutional power of Congress. 
The inexorable r. Randolph now demands that 
it shall be abandoned, together with oth* r measures, 
as the sine qua non of his adhesion to the coalition, 
and Col. Benton promptly renounces the principles 
upon which it was founded by its friends, and main- 
tained by himself: he only tolerates its existence', 
for the present, as a revenue measure, and jiledges 
himself to reduce it one half, when the pi^blic debt 
shall be paid by making donations of the public 
lands — he contemplates diminishing the receipts, 
while he continues unnecessary expenditures. 

Upon an attentive examination of the facts be- 
fore us, it is impossible to resist the conclusion, that 
the whole coalition stand pledged to oppose all in- 
ternal improvements and domestic manufactures ; 
that such of them as have heretofore professed to 
be their warmest supporters, have compromised 
their principles (real or pretended,) deserted their 
constituents, and surrendered themselves, unreser- 
vedly, to the dictation of the adversary. Some, 
indeed, are making abortive efforts to keep up the 
appearance of consistency, and attempt to delude 
the peoph', and escape their just indignation, by 
hollow pretences of maintaining their principles as 
originally professed, according to the letter, and set- 
ting up distinctions where there is no real difference. 
They admit, the power to construct roads and ca- 



?o 



G3 



nuLs, anj deny all nmhority ovpr them after they 
are made. They profess to be the friends of do- 
nif'Sfic mamifartures, and acknowledge ihe consti- 
tutional competency of Congress to impose duties 
on imports, tnr their protection, but are opposed 
to any tariff which is not absolutely necessary as a 
revenue measure ; which is nothing Ipss than an at- 
tempt to compromise between their duty to their 
constitupnrs and their allef^iance to their faction, 
producpd by a wish to conriljate fhe people, on the 
one hnnd, and a fear of the desertion of their con- 
federates, on the other. Profrssing this strange com- 
pound of opposite principles, it is not surprising", 
that in attempting to reduce ihem to practice, they 
should find themselves bewildered and confused in 
the mazes of their erratic course, and be unable to 
extricate themselves frf)m the difficulties with which 
they are environed, by their strange absurdities and 
irreconcileable contradiction?. Such will ever be 
the fate ©f politicians, who, without fixed principles 
to guide, or prudence to control them, sacrifice their 
duty to their ambiti?>n — abandon measures for the 
sake of men, and stake their political hopes on the 
success of a desperate enterprise. 

CURTIUS. 



64 



No. vir. 



Stafesmpn who, like (hf President and S'^rretnry 
of State, have, through a loiig^ period of public lifV>, 
sustained a spotless reputation — have been distin- 
guished throughout Europe and AmpricR, f>r their 
talents, their integrity, and their virtues, and re- 
markable for the candor, frankness, and ft^arl^^ssness, 
with which they have, at all times, avowed and main- 
tained tjjeir opinions and principles, cannot be 
justly suspected of designs hostile to the public 
good, or dangerous to the liberties or political exis- 
tence of the country, until s*)me overt act oi folly 
or depravity is established by unquestionable evi- 
dence. Until then, those who affect to detect sinis- 
ter design, artifice or stratagem, in every proposal 
of such men, must be considered as furnishing, by 
their suspicion, an undubitable token of their own 
political depravity, as deriving their conclusions 
irom the consciousness of their own disposition, 
and imputing to others the inclination wh.icli they 
feel predominant in their own bosonis. Such hike 
source, and such the character, of all the charges al- 
leged against the Administration by the " people's 
men." 

Unable to obtain power, the ohjert of all their de- 
signs, by regular means, they endeavored to prepare 
the public mind for their own preferment, by *abri- 
cating, and industriously circulating, calumnies de- 
signed to overwhelm with obloquy «il those whose 
talents and virtues have secured to them public con- 
fidence. Hitherto they have been defeated as of- 
ten as their charges were reduced to specific accu- 
sation, and the statesmen to whom this nation is so 
much indebted, rose triumphant from the contest. 
Though discomfited, however,they were not subdti- 



65 

ed, nor have they relinquished their favorite mode 
of annoyance ; but availing themselves of every 
opportunity to unite the disaffected, to form a 
" cempact of union, league, and confederation," be- 
tween all those whose ambition has been baffled, the 
commencement of the last session of Congress dis- 
covered a coalition, such as was never before wit- 
nessed, avowedly organized to oppose the Adminis- 
tration in all its measures, right or wrong. The no- 
mination of ministers to Panama was seized upon as 
a fit occasion for renewing the attack, and this mea- 
sure, dictated by the interests of the nation, sanc- 
tioned by the policy of the late President, and sup 
ported by the whole nation, was assailed by insinu= 
ations of suspicion, that the present Administration 
was about to engage the nation in entangling 
alliances, abandon its neutrality, and involve us 
in war. 

It is not my purpose, nor is it necessary, to enter 
into arguments in support of the mission ; its expe- 
diency has been unanswerably vindicated, and tri- 
umphantly maintained by the President and Secre- 
tary, and by a host of disinterested Statesmen in 
both House's of Congress, whose principles have 
not been overcome by their predilections for one 
man, or their dislike f.r another, and who are wilhng 
to judge the tree by its fruits — the Administration by 
its measures. A recurrence to facts, in the recollec- 
tion of all, will demonstrate that the opposition to 
this measure does not arise from any love of coun- 
try, or real apprehension of danger, but from the 
ambition and self-love, or the envy and revenge, of 
the confederates ; and, by a reference to the con- 
stitution, it will be seen that no alliance can be 
formed without treaty, and no treaty made obligato- 
ry without the approbation of two-thirds of the Se- 
nate 5 nor can troops be raised or supplies furnish- 
F 2 



66 



ed for the purposes of war, without the previous 
sanction of the National Legislature* — consequent- 
ly, all arguments urged against this mission, on the 
ground that such a treaty might probably be form- 
ed, would apply with equal force to any mission 
whatever, and amount to objections against all fo- 
reign intercourse, which must be conducted by the 
agency of ministers, the President and Senate, all 
of whom are as liable to corruption in one case as 
another. 

When the late President announced to the world 
that this nation would not view with indifference 
an attempt by any of the powers of Europe to in- 
terfere between Spain and her late colonies, the de- 
claration was approved and cheered by the whole 
nation, and by none more heartily than by the lea- 
ders of the Opposition. Aware, however, that 
their present course is at war with the determina- 
tion indicated in this declaration, they now affect to 
consider it as a mere vapouring ; and, to escape 
from the imputation of inconsistency, attempt to 
convict the late President, the people and them- 
selves, of idle gasconade ; but it was not so consi- 
dered by the Holy Alliance, or by any other nation 
on the globe ; it has had its effect only because 
this nation, in the opinion of the Allied Powers, ma- 
nifestly stood pledged to second it by action. Al- 
though a recurrence to these facts is by no means 
necessary to justify the mission, in which an arma- 
ment against the Holy Alliance cannot be contem- 



* It is true that General Jackson did once appoint officers, 
embody troops, and muster th«'m intot >e serviceoftiie United 
States, witliout any law. or even tlie orders of the Pr^'sident 
—a usurpation which might be repeated to a more alantiing 
and dangerous extent, if this ation should confer on him 
the office of Chief Magistrate : but it is a precedent not 
likely to be followed bytbose who understand and reverence 
the constitijtion, 



►7 



plated, because all apprehension of danger from 
that qufirter has ceased ; yet it will serve to show 
how far the Opposition were once disposed to 
go, in order to guarantie the indt^pt^ndence of the 
Spanish American States : whether they would 
have availed themselves of the pitiful subterfuge to 
which they now resort, to skulk out of the conse- 
quences of the pi dge, if the Allies had disregarded 
the menacing attitude which this nation assumed, 
cannot now be determined. But it seems they are 
willing to forego all iniercou se with their once fa- 
vorite republics, although this nation has become 
immediately interested in their movements, and es- 
pecially in their contempl.ited plan of prosecuting a 
just war, by invading the colonies of Spain, imme- 
diately in the vicinity of our own borders. Thus, 
the election of Mr. Adams to the Presidency has 
not only reversed their principles and changed their 
opinions on the policy of this Government, but has 
evaporated all their solicitude and enthusiasm for 
the new Republics. 

The Assembly of American nations at Panama 
is known to have originated in separate treaties, 
fiirmed by Colombia with other Spanish American 
States, Chili, Peru, Guatemala, and Mexico. The 
two first were promulgated in July, 1823; the 
third in April, 1825, and the last, in September, in 
the same year. They stipulate, that ^^ dn assembly 
shall be formed, composed of two plenipotentia;ies 
for each party, in the same terms, and with thesame 
forinaiities, which, in conformity to established 
usages, ought to be observed for the appointment of 
ministers of equal class, [plenipotentiaries,] near 
the governments of foregn natiions." The par- 
ties '* oblige themselves to interpose their good offi- 
ces with the governments of the other states of 
America, formerly Spanish, to enter into the com- 



C(8 

pact of union, league and confederation;" and, as 
soon as this great and important object lias been at- 
tained, ^^ ageneral assembly of Spanish American 
State's shall be convened, composed of their pleni- 
potentiaries,"* to be charged, in addition to their 
general powers, with certain specific duties in rela- 
tion to the confederated States. It is manifest, 
therefore, that this assemhly is not to be held for 
the purpose of forming alliances, even among the 
Spanish American Republics, " A compact of 
union, league and confederation," was formed by 
the same treaties which stipulate for the meeting of 
their plenipotentiaries at Panama, and, as soon as 
this great and important object," (the alliance be- 
tween all the states of America, formerly Spanish,) 
should be attained, and not till theriy was the gene- 
ral assembly to be convened. 

As soon as the two first of these treaties were 
promulgated, the contemplated assembly attracted 
the attention, and excited the solicitude, of all stales- 
men of this Union. — By them it was thought to 
present a favorable opportunity for settling many 
important questions of national law, ('at least among 
the nations of the two Americas,) by " the consen- 
laneous adoption of principles of maritime neu- 
trality." It was h(^ped and believed, that "the 
doctrinie, that free ships make free goods, and the 
restrictions of reason on the extent of blockades," 
which has long been contended for by this nation/ 
at the expense of much blood and treasure, might 

* These quotations are literally taken from the transla- 
tions furnished the Sei)ate, of the treaties made by Colom- 
bia with Chtli and Peru, the two first in the order of time, 
creating the Congress ; particular words are put in italics, 
because they are considered by Col. B. material to the char- 
acter and power of the assembly ; and it will be seen by le- 
feriing to bis prefatory note, that they are truly translated 
according to his own showing. 



69 

he establish'^d among the American Ptrp\ib]ics ; thit 
the disastrous conseqnejices jtislly apprehended by 
the southern states of this Union, from the contem- 
plated invasion, and probable conquest, of Cuba 
and Porto Rico, by the Spanish Americn States, 
in the emancipation of the slaves, and possible re- 
newal of the shocking scenes of St. Domingo, might 
be prevented. They, therefore, maintained that 
ihe policy of the United States required that they 
should be represented in that assembly ; and when 
it became known, that our government had receiv- 
ed an invitation, for this purpose, its acceptance 
xvas.universally desired. The Opposition immedi- 
ately seized the occasion to assail the Administra- 
tion, in their favorite mode of attack. Their press- 
es, accordingly, commended operations, by insinua- 
tions, intimating a suspicion that the public will 
would probably be defeated. Some of the editors 
in the immediate neighborhood of General Jackson, 
at length boldly and distinctly asserted, that the in- 
vitation would not be accepted ; and, as if assured 
of the fact, denounced the Administration as 
guilty of an unpardonable offence, in contemplat- 
inz a refusal. This was considered as a signal from 
the chief, and the Panama mission became the ral- 
lying point of the whole coalition, not (as now) to 
oppose, but to support it, against the Administra- 
tion. When the 'President annomiced the accep- 
tance of the invitation, they contented tiiemselves 
by directing their attack on the power supposed 
to be asserted; to appoint ministers without the ad- 
vice and consent of the Senate. But, when, after- 
wards, this point of attack was removed, by the no- 
mination to the Senate, they became infuriated by 
iheir disappointment, and arrayed themselves against 
the once favorite mission. 

Aware, however, that their consistency might 



TO 

justly be questioned, the more considerate of ilie 
leaders thought it expedient to offer an apology of 
some sortj f )r the sudden revolution in their opin- 
ions, and this, as usual, was found in the irresistible 
arguments of their confederates. The sppech of 
Col. Benton on this subject, (of which two entire 
editions have been sent by mail from Washington, 
and circulated in this state, to the manifest abuse 
of the franking privilege,) may be considered as a 
fair specimen of the spirit in which the Opposition 
has been conducted, and the mode of reas(»ning by 
which the confederates pretend to have been con- 
vinced. This gentleman commences by saying — 
*' I had not expected to speak in this debate ; and 
if I had spoken among ihe first, it would have been 
on a different side from that on which I now ap- 
pear." Now, it will be observed, that true transla- 
tions of the treaties of Colombia with Chili and 
Peru, which create the Congress, were published 
in the principal papers of the United States, as 
early as the year 1824, and were undoubtedly read 
and studied by him, long before the nomination was 
made ; conseq<iently, the mission, " as represented 
in the President's message, and the publications of 
the day," could not have misled him. Indeed, his 
determination to oppose it appears to have been 
made as early as that of any of the confederates ; 
for, by a reference to the journals, it will be seen, 
that from the very commencement of the di-bate 
to the lime his sp-ech was delivered, (which was 
nearly, or quite the last,) he voted uniformly with 
the 6ppositi(»n, in every question, including Mr. 
Van Buren's resolution asking the opinion of the 
President about the publication of documents. — 
The cf>nrlusion is therefore inevitable, that the de- 
cided change was not wrought in his mind by " time 
and reflectfuD;'' and, notwithstanding his pretence, 



71 



that it was the comtnittee's report »vhlch *' fiist sei 
him a thinking," he appears to have b^en as reacl\' 
to vote against the mission before the tornaiencc- 
nient, as after the close, of the debate. 

The diplomatic character of the assembly is de- 
nied, ahhough in the treaties it is declared to bean 
assembly of plan i pot en liar ies, which the orator ad- 
mits to be the very definition of a diplonjatic Con- 
gress, and even maintains that repubhcs are incom- 
petent to create any other. He insists, that the so- 
vereignty of the nations to be represented will not 
be present at Panama, " for these Stales are repub- 
lican, and republic? are incapable of exercising the 
right of sovereiiinty ex territoriality.''^* The com- 
mittee hold a different opinion. They say that, in 
a certain event, " the United States will b^' the first to 
solicit the assembling of a Congress of American 
States ;" and the gentleman himself says, " Minis- 
ters known to the law of nations can represent the 
sovereignty of their nations at any point ufxni the 
globe. They n>ay come from the four quarters of 
the globe, and form a diplomatic assembly." He 
enumerntos the different grades of " ministers 
known to the law of nations," among which are 
pkjii/^ottfitiaries, and says, " the essential charac- 
ter of each, and the rights of all, are equal," yet, 
contends that the assembly at Panama will be of un- 
equal grades, although it is to be composed of t\\o 
plenipotentiaries for each party, appointed with liie 
same formalities, and commissioned in the same 
form and manner, as are required by e&tabliahtd 

* This appears to be a peculiar favorite phrase with CoJ. 
Benton, often repeated in his speech, and has probably been 
coined by himself, or bo rowed from some foreign lan- 
guage. It was certainly as necessary that he should have 
rendert d it into English, for the information of the public, as 
it was to give the signffiration of tlie word " anlipoden'' 
fur tlie edification of the Senate. 



72 

usages, in the commission of ministers ol' equal 
ch/iracter (grade) among oth^^r nations.* He ap- 
prehends, that entangling alliances will be entered 
into, yet denies the possibility that any treaty what- 
ever can be formed by the assembly at Pananta. 
He maintains, that " the advising power is a high 
one, and little Ihss than a power to control and go- 
vern the event;" and, therefore, is unwilling to 
advise the appointment of plenipotentiaries, unless 
the Senate are permitted to " control and govern" 
their instructions, by way of guarding in advance 
against being deluded into the^atification of some 
disastrous treaty, and to establish the principle of 
controlling the Executive in the exercise of this 
part ot his constitutional functions. But, it seems, 
he would b« willing now to advise and consent, 
" that an agent, or commissioner, be sent to Panama, 
without diplomatic character or privilege, in the ac- 
tive, subtle, and penetrating furm of an unofficial 
agent, sjieaking the language of the country, and 
establishing himself on the basis of social inter- 
couise,m every vibiister'' sfamily^^ — a kind of" lob- 
by minister," or licensed spy to " hang about" the 
assembly, 'Halk" with the ministers, and "send 
home reports of all he saw and did!!!" Such are the 
absurdities and contradictions in which gentlemen 
involve themselves, who prepare to speak on one 
side of a question, and by some untoward cir- 
cumstance, (^such as the controlling influence and 
authority of an inexorable dictator.) are forced to 
argue on the other. 

Notwithstanding Col. Benton's anxiety to keep 
out of view the real causes which produced "the 
decided change in his mind," the nomination of 

"* See the Treaties as published by the Senate, particu- 
larly the two last, and Col. Benton's literal trandation of the 
35th article of that with Guatemala, perfixedto his speecii 






Mr.Sergt^anl evidently contributed, in some degree, to 
produce this result. The preference of Mr. Sergeant 
to himself, as one of the PJenipoteutiaries, seems to 
have been considered as an linpardonable private 
injury ; and has brought upon the " nominee" two 
octavo pages of violent invective acd intemperate 
denunciation, altogether gratuitous, or for the mere 
gratification of revenge for defeated hopes, as the 
ratification of the nomination was not then be- 
fore the Senate, nor vvere the remarks suggested 
by, or in anywise apposite to, the question pend- 
ing. That it was so considered by the Senate, is 
demonstrated by the fact, " that the vote on iMr» 
Anderson^s nomination was (only) one more in his 
favor than there was in favor of Mr. Sergeant," and 
that one was Mr. Benton's, the rest of the confeder- 
ates making no difierence between the " no^ 



minees." 



Another instance of the artifice and stratag'^m, as 
well as the consistency of our Senator, will be 
found in the fact, that tht- body of the printed speech 
contains more than one page devoted to the consi- 
deration of the expense of the mission ; " a topic," 
which he confesses, in a note, "was altogether preter- 
mitted in the spoken speech," as delivered in the 
Senate. Before thp people, the expense is made 
one of the principal objections to the mission — ^ 
consideration which he was ashamed to urge be- 
fore the Sr-nators, for whose edification the speech 
svas professedly delivered. After exhibiting a 
statement of the whole expense of our diplor 
matic intercourse with all thn Spanish American 
States, including the Panama missi m, he says, 
" if this is economy, I know not the meaning 
of the word." Thus, by interpolating in a 
^* speech,'^'' delicered in the Senate, that vi^hich 
was not " spokeriy^' he hopes to acquire the 

Q 



imvue of an economist ; to take advantage of 
the sensibility of the ppople on the subject 
of expenditure, at once to promote his own. popu- 
larity and excite prejudices against the Adminis- 
tration.* The rea/ disposition of this gentiemnn, 
on thesuhject pf expenditure, has already been ex- 
posed in my sixth number : it may not be amiss, 
however, to state additional facts, which m^y serve 
fully to illustrate his claim to the character of an 
economist. Members of Congress are allowed, by 
law, eight dollars a day for their attendance, and 
*^ eight d hilars for every twenty miles of estuiiRted 
distance by the most usual rond,''^ between their 
place of residence and Washington, going and re- 
turning. It seems that the members of Congress 
have construed this act to allow a computation of 
distance by the course of the most crooked navigi- 
blpnyer; and, under this construction, some, at 
least, of the members of Congress from Illinois and 
Missouri, (among them Col. Benton,) ascertain the 
dist^ince between St. Louis and Washington to bo 
about fiftet^n hundred miles, making the lisual road 
follow the meanders of the Mississippi and Ohio to 
Wheeling; and, according to this computation, 
thev charge and receive pay— while the real dis- 
tance betwe^^n the two places, estimated by what the 
people would miderstand to b^^ the " usual road,^ 
does not exceed eight hundred miles. If is proba- 
ble, that the compensation allowed by the plain im- 
port ot'the act is not S'lfficient ; but the people have 
a right to be informed, by the language of the law, 
what they are to pay, and certainly, an economist 
ought not to connive at the continuance, much less 



* In the " Missouri Advocate," of 31st August, there is 
Qn editorinl article which improves on the speech, by char- 
ging to thp Panama mission the whole expense of our ("or-^ 
ei^n intercourse, with all nations, and shows that the iS'enc 
tor can only be 9U(donc by the Edilcr. 



?o participate in the benefits of this left-hand mode 
of increasing com{>ens9tic)n.* 

The intolerant zeal with which Col. Benton com- 
menced and prosecuted his hostility to the mission, is 
betrayed in his note, prefixed to the published speech. 
It seems that a suspicion (very unnatural to a mere in- 
quirer after truth,) was excited in his mind aeainst hr<i 
Ttlatiort, Mr. Clay, by whom the translations of the trea- 
ties were furnished to be sent to the Senate : " suspect- 
ing these translations to be loose and inaccurate," he ap- 
plied to the (3oloi)ibian Minister for, and obtained, a 
copy of the treaty between Colombia and Guatemala, 
m the original language, by which, he says, he " disco- 
vered errors far more material to the character and 
power of the assembly than he had supposed.! "To 
expose these," (and of course the artifice of his relatioJi,} 
he prefixes to his speech five articles of (he treaty, ar- 
ranging the original, the translation sent to the Senate, 
and his own, in separate colunms. Which of these 
translations is the best, it is unriecessary to inquire, 
since it will appear, that the two first treaties, in point 
of time, and as arranged among the documents sent to 
and published by the Senate, are correctly translated, 
according to his own opinion, which excludes the idea 
of any desigti "to lead the Senate" (as is alleged) "to 
an idea essentially erroneous upon the character of the 
assembly." The word assembly is eniployed in the 
translation of the two first, and congress in the two last, 



* These facts are stated upon the authority of Col. Ben- 
ton's own declarations. It i* due to Mr. Barton to state, 
that although other members of Congress charge, in the 
mode alluded tn, he has refused to exact compensation ac- 
cording to it, but estimates the distance by the usual road. 

t The errors complained of, as calcualted to lead the Se- 
nate to erroneous idfai tj}>on the character of the assembly, 
are, that in the tianslations, Congress is twice used instead 
of Assembly, and the words " their" and " tt;eni " are < n- 
tiiely omitted — that arbitrator is used instead oi judge-arbi- 
trator ; none of which suppnsfd errors exist in the two first 
translations sent to the Senate. Juez Arbitro is, indeed, 
rendered umpire, which is at least as correct as judgi^-arbi- 
trator^ 



76 



ii the treaties ; the former Col. Benton contends, ''has 
no diplomatic sense," bnt the latter " signifies an assem- 
Uy of plenipotentiaries.'^^ Unluckily for this display of 
erudition, the conienjplaied assembly is called, in two 
of the translations, " a general assemhly,^^ and in the 
other two, ^^ a general cotigresa odUe American states 
composed of their plenipotentiaries" — terms evidently 
synonymous, both indicating the diplomatic character of 
the assembly, in language not to be misunderstood, nor 
perverted by hyper-criticism. The affectation of learn- 
ing, exhibited in the prefatory note, might be pardon- 
<jd ; but the wilful suppression of facts, for the purpose 
of criminating an honourable man, and that man a re- 
htioji, cannot be excused or palliated. 

Such is the spirit which animates the whole coali- 
tion ; and such the means they employ to sustain iliem- 
selves, and overthrow the men they hate. Some of 
ihem certainly possess, in an eminent degree, that spe- 
cies of courage which scorns to recoil from shame, and 
have persevered to the dishonour of the principles on 
which they formerly assumed to act, until they have 
been brought to the shameless avowal of a determina- 
tion to oppose every measure proposed by the Admin- 
istration, no matter how direct and obvious its tendency 
t0 the public good* — and all of them are "Prophets of 
evil, they foretell no good, but the joy of their hearts is 
to predict misfortunes," and, to realize their predic= 
tions, they use all implements which come to their 
hands, and neglect no means which promise success. 

CURTIUS. 

* See M'Duffies speech on the Panama Mission, and ano- 
ther on the amendment to the Conslitiuion, 



77 



TORCH LIGHT— No. VHI. 

According to the fundamental principles of our 
government, a President elected agreeably to the 
provisions of the constitution of the United States, 
is as much the President of the people, as if he 
were chosen by their direct vote ; because, he is 
elected in the mode which they hnve themselves 
prescribed for ascertaining their will ; and it is an 
insult to them not to respect, as their decision, a 
choice made by their agents, exercising the powers 
delegated, in strict conformity to the directions ot 
the instrument of their constitution. Indeed, no- 
thing can be recognised as the public will, which is 
not constitutionally expressed as such. It \vas, 
therefore, to be hoped, that the present Chief Ma- 
gistrate would, in the proper exercise of his au- 
thority, have received the support of all those who 
claim to be the friends of the constitution, and es- 
pecially those who profess the principles upon 
which he has avowed his intention to administer 
the government; that the friends of the unsuccess- 
ful candidates would have accorded to him a liberal 
and rational confidence, which would have mani- 
fested their attachment to principles to be stronger 
than their predilections for men; and that if, by 
the adoption of systems, and principles, hostile to 
the public good, and to those professed and advo- 
cated by themselves, they were comp-lled to op- 
pose his administration, they would commence 
their opposition with candor and dignity, and sup- 
port it by truth and frifr argument. These reijson- 
•able expectations have not, however, been realized. 
Gen. Jackson was, indeed, among the first to ex- 
G 2 



78 

press his confidence in the ability and virtue of the 
new President — thus affording unequivocal testimo- 
By that, in his opinion, he was fairly and honorably 
chosen. By many it was considered a magnani- 
mous resignation to the public will, constitutionally 
expressed, and a pledge, that the Administration 
would be judged by its measures ; but it was soon 
after announced, that there would be " an opposi- 
tion such as was never before witnessed." Such an 
opposition has been organized, in which General 
Jackson participates, and reposes his hopes of fu- 
ture election on the profligate arts of the coalition. 
Mortified by the decision of the intelligence and 
patriotism, he seconds their appeal to the passions 
and prejudices of the nation. 

In a very few days after General JacksOn had 
publicly accorded to the President the testimony of 
his confidence, we find his patriotism yielding to 
his lust of power — his principles renounced to gra- 
tify his revenge — his sense of justice overcome by 
his passions, and his magnanimity evaporated by 
the warmth of his reseniment. It was due to the 
people of the western States, that they should be 
represented in the cabinet; they h;id given the 
most unequivocal t-^stimony of their confidence in 
the principles, talents, and integrity of Mr. Clay, 
fcy preferrins him to all others for the Presidency, 
and rtssuredly, no m^n in the West, or perhaps in 
the nation^ was better qualified for the office of Se- 
cretary of State. But these considerations had no 
weight wiiii General Jackson, and kicked the beam, 
when his supposed private injury was put in the 
opposite scale. It casmot be disguised, that his 
vote against Mr. Clay was dictated by a spirit of 
jesentment which subdued every consideration of 
public good, or respect of public will. If Mr. Clay 
had voted for General Jackson in the House of 
Bepre&entatives,. it would undoubtedly have be^o 



otherwise ; for, after the reconciliation of the latter 
with Randolph, Cobb, and Benton, there can be no 
doubt, but that the former mi^iht also have purchas- 
ed his good opinion, if he had deserted his duty 
and given the lie to all he had hitherto said and done. 
If all that the worst enemies of Mr. Clay have 
ever charged upon him, were even conceded, (prov- 
ed it cannot be,) he would lose nothing by a com- 
parison with Mr. Benton or General Jackson, if 
one half of what they have alleged and published 
against each other, be true. It may, therefore, well 
be supposed, that he might have purchased the fa- 
vor of either, or both, upon the same humiliating 
terms on which they have become reconciled to 
each other. But, Mr. Clay's opinions of General 
Jackson's pretensions are f rmed on facts establish- 
ed : he adopted them with deliberation, though not 
without reluctance — he maintains them with energy, 
yet with candor and dignity. With him "principles 
are immutable ;" he chooses not to follow the ex- 
ample of men " changeable as weathercocks," 
though he has the assurance that he would thereby 
subdue the hostility of his most determined foes.— 
Those who have reason to fear the accusation of 
their enemies, oughi, perhaps, to purchase silence 
at any price, but Mr. Clay's integrity, and elevauon 
©f character, secure him against all the arts of his 
adversaries; he has, therefore, no adequate motive 
to purchase exemption from their misrepresenta- 
tions. 

We have seen that, before the late election, most 
of those who are now the leaders of the Opposition, 
professed political principles, as well as personal 
predilections, of the most opposite character, and 
were more remarkable for their reciprocal hatred 
©f each other, than conspicuous for their talents or 
virtues — that they professed no feelings in common, 
h\ii hatred and envy of Mr, Clay ; some, because 



80 



they had felt him in debate — others, because of 
his humble origin, and all, because his talents and 
and popularity rendered him CDnspicuous as a can- 
didate for future promotion. It is, therefore, more 
with a view to produce his ruin, than against the 
Chief Magistrate, they have united their counsels 
and efforts. 

The Vice President, disdaining all respect to pnb^ 
lie opinion, even proposed, that he and his adhe- 
rents would support the administration, if the Sec- 
retary of Slate were dismissed. Thus their envj; 
and hatred of one man has produced the most ex- 
traordinary coalition that ever exii»ted — has recon- 
ciled Randolph, Van Buren and Cobb, to John C. 
Calhoun, their enemy, and the reviler of Crawford 
— restored Jackson, Calhoun and Benton, to the 
favor of Randolph, and of each other, and com- 
posed all their diiferences. Randolph, Cobb and 
Benton, all of whom have denounced Gen. Jack- 
son, for his insatiable lust of arbitrary sway, his 
tyrannical abuse of power, and his total ignorance, 
or contempt of the constitution and laws of the 
land, ffhe latter for fifteen years his reviler, and 
once the humble follower of Clay,) have, with the 
rest, conceived a sudden attachment for the Milita- 
ry Chieftain, and formed a " compact of union, 
league and confederation," with him and his friends, 
to advance him to the Presidency, and bring ruin 
and disgrace upon Mr. Adams, and especially Mr. 
Clay, at all hazards ; and the Chieftain, thus sud- 
denly invested with wisdom and moderation, as if 
determined to emulate the treachery and baseness 
of bis new votaries, and qualify himself for their 
support^ distinguishes himself by the promptitude 
and fcicility with which he renounces his animosities, 
forsakes his principles, and attaches himself to his 
declared enemies. 
The means which they have employed in con- 



81 

ducting their hostility, it must be admitted, are per- 
fectly consistMit with the spirit in which it was con- 
ceived. Mr. Clay is charged wiih corruption, be- 
cause he preferred for the Presidency a statesman 
to a mere " military chieftain" — a man who under- 
stands and respects the provisions of the constitu- 
tion, to one who stands accused, upoii high authori- 
ty, and, if not convicted, certainly not acquitted, 
of having, as a military officer, kept one array on 
foot contrary to orders, and levied another and ap- 
pointed officers without authority of law — insulted 
the Governor of one state, and menaced the legis- 
lature of another ; made war upon a neutral nation; 
violated the liberty of the citizen and of the press: 
put to death seveial individuals without the autho- 
rity of law, some after a mock trial, and others 
without even that formality — a man who knows 
not the difference between an alieii and a citizen^ a 
spy and a domestic traitor ; who cannot distinguish 
a citizen of a neutral nation, fighting in the ranks 
of a belligerent, from a pirate or sea robber; and 
who knows so little of the provisions of the con- 
stitution and laws, as to suppose, that a traitor, or 
pirate, is amenable to a couit martial or the discre- 
tion of a military commander. All office-seekers 
themselves, the confederates denounce Mr. Clay 
for having accepted the appointment of Secretary 
of State, and accuse Mr. Adams of havingf corrupt- 
ly conferred it, as a reward for services in the elec- 
tion — thus imputing corruption, nut only to the pre- 
sent, but to every administration since 1801, and 
especially to the departed apostle of liberty, Mr. 
Jefferson, who appointed to office several of the 
members who voted for him ; to Mr. Randolph, 
who wished to be favored in the same way, and to 
themselves, who are all ambitious of office, and by 
no means particular by whom it is conferred, or 
about the meanfs by which they obtain it. 



82 

Many of them (Jackson, Calhoun, and Bentotij 
certainly) have been the avowed advocates of in- 
ternal improvements and domestic manufactures, 
and professed to feel for the new Republics the so- 
licitude of partisans, and the enthusiasm of devo- 
tees ; and now submit themselves to the absolute 
dictation of John Randolph, the consistent enemy 
of them all, as well as any thing else favoured by 
any administration for the last twenty-five years, 
and co-operate with him to defeat their once favor- 
ite measures. It has been shown, that, while they 
affect to admit the power to construct roads and 
canals, they deny it in substance, and contend for 
principles directly at war with their seeming ad- 
missions* — that the taril!"", avowedly adopted as a 
protection to domestic industry, is now treated as 
a mere revenue measure, to be abandoned as soon 
as the state of the treasury will admit, without re- 
gard to the consequences which must ensue to ma- 
nufactures — that the solicitude of the people for the 
new Republics, and the interest of the nation in the 
deliberations of the contemplated assembly at Pa- 
nama, are wholly disregarded — that, instead of 
availing ourselves of the invitation to send minis- 
ters, it is proposed to forego all advantages which 
might be attained ; and, instead of treating the as- 
sembled nations as sovereigns, by sending ministers 
of equal grade with their own, it is proposed to in- 
sult the new Republics, by treating their plenipo- 
tentiaries as a band of conspirators, and to send 



*Col. Benton has felt the nocessity of some effort foes- 
cape from the consequences of his course on this subject, 
an.l has republished in the Advocate of the 7th St'ptember 
1825, his speech delivered in January, 1824, to prove that 
he is a supporter of internal improvement; and he might as 
well, also, republish his speech delivered adout the same 
timt^ on the amendments of the constitution, to prove his 
present opinions on that subject. 



83 

among them a licensed spy, a kind of commissioned 
eves-dropper, to hang about the assembly and be- 
tray its councils. Thus, the favorite measures of 
the people (of the western Statt^s, especially, j are 
not only abandoned^ but violently opposed by the 
" people's candidate" and the " people's men," be- 
cause tiiey are recommended by the administra- 
tion ; and opposition is demanded by a few south- 
ern politicians as the consideration of their acces- 
sion to the coalition. 

Ni»t content with opposing every proposition 
emanating from the administration, or any of its 
friends, they have attempted, r^^peatedly, to dis- 
turb the order of things as it has stood, without 
complaint, nearly forty years. They propose to 
reduce the Exncuiive patronage, and dividt' it among 
members of Congress — to transfer a part of the Ex- 
ecutive power to indivi<iual members of the L»'gis- 
laiure, as the best mode of creating confusion in 
the administration of the government. In a despe- 
rate etiori to increase the chances of promoting a 
military chieftain, the constitution itself has been 
assaih'd, and one of the main pillars which support 
that beauiifid t difice attempted to be torn away. 
Under the specious pretence of giving the election 
to the people, liie equality of the States is proposed 
to be destroyed ; in the language of one of the con- 
federates, now the chief promoter of the attack, they 
wish •■' t) subvert the government under which we 
live, by unsettling the conijjromises on which the 
constitution reposes ;" and promise us, that, when 
their work of spoliation shall be accomplished, the 
consolidated States shall have a chief magistrate, 
who, like the King of England, '' can do wrong"— 
;i man whose talents and virtues escaped detection 
during the first forty or fifty years of his life, and 
all traces of theit existence either eluded the anx- 
ious researches of his biographer, or were of o, 



84 



^baractt^r to render oblivion desirable— a man, 
whose public life [if his new friends are lo be re- 
lied on,) has been conspicuous for its errors or 
crimes, in the habitual violation of the constituliou 
and laws of the land. 

Prom the very cpmmenceraent of the Opposi- 
tion, the favorite policy of the confederates has 
beei^ to assail the President and Secretary by cal- 
umny and njisrepresentation, avoiding, as far as 
practicable, the reduction of their charges to spe- 
cific accusali >n, that they might not be encountered 
and exposed by truth and fair argument. Whene- 
ver any of them have an opportunity of making 
what is called a speech, no matter on what subject, 
they never fail to introduce some topic which may 
r.ei ve as an apohigy tor a strain of declamation, to 
eulogize each other, and denounce the Administra- 
tion. [)Ut hU their little arts aie thrown far in the 
shade by their factious and profligate attempt to 
implicate the President and Secretary of State in 
the frauds mediiated by the deputation of the 
Cieek nation, vviih whom a treaty was concluded 
at VVa^hin^ton last winter. It seems that a treaty 
was signed on the 24th of January, and submitted 
JO the Senate next day. On the 3 1st March, a sup^ 
plemenlal article was concluded and submitted to 
ihe Senate, and the-?vhole ratified by that body on 
the 21st April. After the original treaty was 
formed, Col. Benton offered his services to procure 
the supplemental article to be adopted^ and recomf 
mend^d to the Secretary of War the official nego- 
tiator on the part of the United States, " to give 
private gratuities to the Creek chiefs to promote 
the success of the negotiation."* The Secretary, 
however, entirely condemned the proposition ; but 



* See the proceedings of the Senate, published in ths 
" Missouri Advocate" of 31st August last= 



85 

the deputation took the hint, and confederated 
amon^ theniselv s to practice a friiud on those who 
sent them, by apportioning about one hur.dred and 
sixty ih lusand dollars of the consideration money 
amon^ ihemsflves. Between the time of the con- 
clusion of the original treaty and of the supple- 
ment, all these circimistances were commnnicated 
to the Superintendent of Indian Affairs,* in the 
W;ir Department, by the two Cherokees. . Some 
w^-eks after the treaties had been ratified, Col. 
Benton deemed it bis duty to communicate the fact 
of the existence of the intended fraud to the Senate, 
in secret spssiouj and the whole coalition imme- 
diately seized upon it for the purpose of criminat- 
ing the Administration. They exonerate the Se- 
cretary at War (who negotiated the treaty) ol all 
knovvledi^e of the meditated fraud, although the 
fact was first disclosed in his Department to one of 
his subordinates— but allege that the Administra- 
tion knew and concealed the fact from the Senate. 
It will, however, occur to every one, that, if any 
body can be supposed (without direct proof of the 
fact) to be conusant of the private arrangements 
among the chiefs, it must be the Secretary of War, 
or his assistant negotiator, Col. Benton, the volun- 
teer agent, " without diplomatic character or privi- 
lege," who left his seat in the Senate to intermeddle 
%vith the negotiation ; " not in the questionable and 
clumsy shape of a formal" commissioner, " but ia 
the active, subtle, and pervading form of an official 
agent, establishing himself on the basis of social in- 
tercourse" with the members of the deputation.t 

* Mr. McKenney, former editor of th*' Washington Re- 
publican, the personal friend and political adherent of Mr. 
Calhuun,and the enemy of the President and Secretary of 
State. 

+ It is, perhaps, the success of Col. Benton in this novel 
sppcies of negotiation, which induced Mm to recommend a 
similarmission to Panama. (See his speech, first edition.) 

H 



86 

The President and Secretary of State were, indeed', 
at Washington during the negotiation, and so were 
tlie Senators who accuse them ; neither, however, 
had any thing to do with the treaty until it was 
conciuded ; all of them, except Col. Benton, were 
probably too much occupied in the duties of their 
respective stations, to be internieddling wiih other 
matters, and had no other means of information, ia 
relation to the arrangements of the deputation, thati 
were common to every body in Washington. There 
is, therefore, the same evidence upon which to con- 
vict the Senators, or any body the, i>f connivance, 
as there is to impeach the Administration. If it was 
criminal not to detect and exoose the intended fraud, 
what shall be said of the Senator who proposed to 
6^66 the deputation, and who knew al least as 
much oi the arrangements among the chiefs as any 
body else, and concealed his kiiowiedge until the 
treaty was ratified ? Yet the Administiaiion is 
condemned, and the Senator and War Minister ap- 
plauded. 

Col, Benton says that ^' he recomirended the 
giving private gratuities to the chiefs, (bribery^) as 
the only way of treating with barbarians. He con- 
sidered the practice its sanctioned by the usage K^i 
the United States ; he believed it to be conunc^i: 
among all barbarous nations, and in n)any thai 
were civdized, and referred to the article of tht 
constitution against receiving ^'presents,'' as a 
proof that the convention tbougiu such aiestiictioii 
necessary even amoiig ourselves ! ! 1 '' From 
which it is to be inferred, tiial our n)iniste!s might 
honestly takp a bribe, if it were not speriaiiy pro- 
hibited, and that it is perfectly honest and consist- 
ent with the dig..iity and honor of. this nation, to 
bribe the diploniaiic representatives of other na° 
tionsa. If such a practice has been sanctioned by 
the usag,e of the Uisited States^ it certainly has beeu.; 



b 



87 



prudently concealed from the people. It is true 
that Mr. Tallejraiidjiu Oclober, 1797, did intimairf 
to our envoys near the government ot' France, ihat 
a sum of mone}', amounting to fifty thousand 
pounds sterling, would be required to be at the dis-, 
jjosal of Talinyrandyor the pockets oj the directory 
and ministerSj and that a loan to the French Go- 
vernment would also be insisted on — which terms 
being complied with, Mr. Tallnyrand had no doubt 
of fflfecling an accommodation between the two 
countries. This proposed loan to the government 
and douceur (gratuities) to the directory, were fre- 
quently pressed upon our envoy;?, and, if they ad- 
verted to other points, they were told, ''gentU" 
men, you do not -speak to the point, it is inanity ; 
it is expected that you will oft'er money ;" to which 
they uniformly replied, " no, no — not a sixpence." 
Notwiihstanding the anxiety of this nation to avoid 
a conflict with France, it was not, in those days, 
thougiit to be consistent with its dignity and honor 
to promote the success of ihe negotiation by briht" 
ry — nor do I believe that the United States have, 
In any case, resorted to filling the pockets of minis- 
ters with private gratuities, by \v»y "of producing 
conviction on their minds." It is said, however^ 
that the unofficial negotiator who recommends it, is 
lo be Secretary of State when Gen. Jackson is 
l^residenl ; it is, therefore, possible, though not kg^ 
ry probable, that, at some future perit.d, our negotia- 
tions will be conducted after the manner of Talley- 
rand, in all tilings except talent — and annual ap- 
propriations become necessary for *' private gratU" 
ities^' to ministers of foreign nations. 

The party who thus continually assail the Ad- 
•ninistration, and lay in wait for an opportunity of 
seizing on the government, per fas aut nefas, by 
fair or foul means, is chiefly composed of men in 
jM respects eminently quiilified for the enterpriseg 



88 



by the possession of much courrgp and consi<1erR- 
blp fal»-nt-;, without p.ttriotism or [j'jlitic.u r;rinrit)le. 
Their confederacy is accurately uescrib^d in Gen. 
Foy's definition of an aristocracy of the nineteenth 
centJry : " a league or coalition of those who wish 
to consume without producing, occupy all public 
places without being competent to fill them, and 
seizing upon all honors without meriting them.*' 
Tyrants when in power, demagogues when out, the 
real people will find it wise to resist them on the ad- 
vanced ground, before they obtain a lodgment in 
some outwork of the constitution, whence they may 
direct a dangerous, and perhaps successful attack 
against the citadel itself. This republic can be 
successfully assailed only by gradual inrcads on 
the principles of government : every attempt at en- 
croachment should, therefore, be promptly resisted, 
lest artful and aspiring demagogues obtain sway, 
and establish arbitrary power under the name of the 

people. 

CURTIUS. 






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